Military Couples: Exploring the Unique Needs and Treatment

Over half of American military members are married, and these couples face stressors not encountered by the civilian population, such as frequent deployments, fear for the safety of the military spouse, duty station transfers, being stationed overseas, combat experience, and the risk of affairs. Adequate therapy for military couples is sorely lacking. The models that have been studied have not been tailored to address the unique stressors military couples face. The current research consisted of two studies. Study 1 undertook a needs assessment. Most of the research with military couples has only examined how the stressors affect the individual members of the couple and not how the couple is affected. Research is also lacking on how successful military couples cope with the stressors. In addition, the research on affairs in the military is all anecdotal evidence. Study 1 assessed how the couple as a unit is affected by the unique stressors and how successful couples cope and identified the frequency, extent, and circumstances surrounding military affairs. The survey had 194 participants who were either military personnel or the spouse of a military member. Study 2 attempted to provide a manualized treatment for military couples. This new model is a weekend group-format curriculum designed to meet the unique needs of military couples. This weekend seminar was employed with two military couples in order to determine its effectiveness.