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Time Outs in Couple and Family Therapy

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Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy

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Synonyms

Negotiated time-out; Taking a break; Taking a pause

Introduction

Arguments between partners often reach a point of escalation – where neither partner is listening and hurtful statements are said out of anger. These arguments leave both partners feeling hurt, angry, and unheard. During times of escalation, a couple may choose to take a Time Out from the discussion. Time Outs provide couples with an opportunity to pause unproductive and hurtful arguments and resume them when they feel calmer to interact in a more effective way.

Theoretical Framework

Time Outs are utilized as a communication training strategy that originates from Behavioral Couple Therapy (BCT). In BCT, couples are taught ways they can effectively communicate with each other (Jacobson and Margolin 1979). Time Outs aim to help couples increase positive behaviors while decreasing the negative behaviors. Time Outs have also been proven to be an effective de-escalation intervention for couples who experience...

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References

  • Christensen, A., & Jacobson, N. (2000). Reconcilable differences. New York: The Guilford Press.

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  • Gottman, J. M. (1979). Marital interaction: Experimental investigations. New York: Academic.

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  • Jacobson, N., & Margolin, G. (1979). Marital therapy: Strategies based on social learning and behavior exchange principles. New York: Brunner/Mazel.

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  • Markman, H., Stanley, S., & Blumberg, S. (2001). Fighting for your marriage: The best-selling marriage enhancement and divorce prevention book. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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  • Rosen, K., Matheson, J., Stith, S., McCollum, E., & Locke, L. (2003). Negotiated time-out: A de-escalation tool for couples. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 29(3), 291–298.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Whitney Christmas & Amy Wu

Authors
  1. Whitney Christmas
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  2. Amy Wu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Whitney Christmas .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston, IL, USA

    Jay Lebow

  2. The Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston, IL, USA

    Anthony Chambers

  3. The Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston, IL, USA

    Douglas C. Breunlin

Section Editor information

  1. University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Brian Baucom

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© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

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Christmas, W., Wu, A. (2019). Time Outs in Couple and Family Therapy. In: Lebow, J., Chambers, A., Breunlin, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_98-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_98-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-15877-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-15877-8

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