Re-authoring marital partners’ stories The aid of sculpting and the use of small objects as “co-therapists”

Abstract

As a result of the high divorce rate and the traumatic and far-reaching effects these phenomena have on adults and children, psychologists should constantly aim to develop effective ways of marriage counselling and therapy. The aim of this article is to introduce one approach to marriage therapy that has been developed by the author of this article. Within this approach to marriage therapy the therapist employs the assistance of a number of figurines and objects utilized as "co-therapists" during the therapy sessions to represent the marriage partners' relationship. During this process the emphasis falls on the close proximity or distance (i.e. intimacy or lack of it) between the marriage partners, and the difference in height (i.e. power relations) which exists between the partners. Experience has indicated that this approach is a powerful diagnostic and therapeutic technique. In this article a theoretical grounding for this technique, methods of presentation and the rationale behind the technique are discussed. Suggestions for further research about the technique, as well as for the development of it are also given.