Couple Relationships in a Global Context, 1st ed. 2020
Understanding Love and Intimacy Across Cultures
European Family Therapy Association Series

This book examines the significance of the couple relationship in the 21^st century, exploring in depth how couple relationships are changing in different parts of the world. It highlights global trends and cultural variations that are shaping couple relationships. The book discusses diverse relationships, such as intercultural couples, same sex couples, long distance couples, polygynous marriages, and later life couples. In addition, chapters offer suggestions for ways to best support couples through policy, clinical practices, and community support. The book also investigates aspects of a relationship that help predict fidelity and stability.

• Couple relationships when one partner has an acquired physical disability.
• Impact of smartphones on relationships.
• Online dating and its implications for couple relationships.
• Assessment and intervention in situations of infidelity and non-monogamy.
• Parenting interventions for the transition from partnership to parenthood.
• Online couple psychotherapy to support emotional links between long distance partners.

Couple Relationships in a Global Context is an essential resource for researchers, professors, and graduate students as well as clinicians and practitioners in family therapy, clinical psychology, general practice/family medicine, social work, and related psychology and medical disciplines.

Angela Abela, PhD, is a Professor and founding Head of the Department of Family Studies at the University of Malta, where she teaches clinical psychology and family therapy trainees, Master students in Family Studies, and supervises research. She chairs the National Centre for Family Research of the Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society. As a clinical psychologist, family therapist and systemic supervisor she works with couples, children and their families and supervises practitioners working in this area.  She is a consultant for Parliament and the Maltese government. She is lead author of the Strategic Policy on Positive Parenting for Malta launched in 2016. Angela has served as an expert for the Council of Europe in the area of children and families for many years. Her research projects include studies on marital satisfaction, couple conflict and family violence, families living in poverty, lone parent families, parenting, and children in out-of-home care. In 2014, she co-edited Contemporary Issues in Family Studies: Global Perspectives on Partnerships, Parenting and Support in a Changing World with Wiley-Blackwell and coauthored Intervening after violence, Therapy for couples and families with Springer (2017). She is an associate editor of Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, an international advisory editor of Contemporary Family Therapy and is on the editorial board of Children Australia.

Sue Vella, PhD, is a senior lecturer in the Department of Social Policy and Social Work at the University of Malta, where she lectures in social policy.   Prior to joining University, Sue had almost twenty years’ experience in the public sector.  After graduating, she was a founder member of the Domestic Violence Unit in what is today known as the Foundation for Social Welfare Services.   She has since held top management positions at the Employment and Training Corpor

Analyzes cultural variations in couple relationships from around the world

Offers ways to best support couples through policy, clinical practice, and community support

Discusses diverse relationships such as intercultural couples, same sex couples, those living apart together, and those falling in love in later life