The Psychology of Couples and Illness : Theory, Research, and Practice

The true meaning of staying together "in sickness and in health" cannot be fully appreciated until illness strikes.

This book chronicles the often brave and sometimes painful ways that couples adapt and cope when long-term illness arrives.

From a cognitive-behavioural perspective, contributors explore how illness affects relationship and, in turn, how the quality of relationships affects coping behaviours and treatment outcomes.

This is the first book to focus solely on couples and illness instead of the larger family unit.

It details the associations between intimate relationships and illness across a wide variety of illnesses (eg. cancer, HIV), physical conditions (eg. chronic pain and fertility issues), and health-related behaviours (eg. smoking and alcohol use). The book brings together the most recent empirical data from psychologists who study and work with couples, exploring the biological, neurological and immunological impacts of the couple relationship.

The authors of each chapter also present insights into the treatment approaches that address specific issues of the disease or the maladaptive behaviour of either partner. A must-have book for those working with or researching couples coping with illness.