Marriage Counselling | Case Study Report

Running head: MARRIAGE COUNSELLING
MARRIAGE COUNSELLING
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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MARRIAGE COUNSELLING
 Name: Phillip, Amanda
 Age: 27, 24
 Date of Birth: 29. 09. 1992, 16. 06. 1995
 Occupation: Graphic Designer, Teacher at Primary School
 Education: Graduate in Designing, masters in English
 Living arrangement: Stay together in an apartment in Melbourne
 Relationship status: Married
 Roles: Both of them equally contribute in household chores, buy groceries, watch
movies and series together, Amanda makes food and Phillip cleans the utensils
 Preferences: Watch movies and series, bake together, workout together and go to
music concert
 Spend time: Phillip is busy in his work and mostly with his colleagues and Amanda
spends time with her and his parents on alternative days while returning from her job
 Decision maker: Amanda is the decision maker because Phillip is impulsive and little
impractical
Developmental Information
Developmental Stage
The couples are married for last seven months and they have been seeing each other
for three months before getting married. According to the psychologists it is evident that they
are in their first stage of developmental model that is symbiosis which is nothing but the
romance stage where falling in love with each other and the process of knowing each other
take place and people involving in the relationship tend to become oblivious of the dark side
of the respective partners and find everything good in each other (Berg & Byrne, 2017).
Similarly Phillip and Amanda have started to live together very recently that is why they

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seem to be more compatible and adjustable with each other. They are developing strong trust,
bonds and attachments with each other. They tend to overlap each others’ limits and try to
reach beyond the boundaries (MacIntosh, 2019).
Recent events
Recently they had an event of Amanda’s baby shower last week. Both Phillip and
Amanda were very excited because that was the first social meet after their marriage. Just
before the day of the event Phillip had to fly off to New Zealand for his project. Amanda was
visibly upset. They have planned to go for a trip to Canberra which they have successfully
executed.
Anticipated Changes
Phillip is planning to move forward in his career and focus on pursuing higher degree
so he will be very busy in completion of his master degree in designing. Again Amanda has
already applied for her PhD for which she has applied in foreign university.
Current Goals
The plan is to spend more time with each other because next year both of them will be
moving to different parts of the world and seeing each other regularly would not be possible.
Therefore they make time for each other, watch movies, cook food and have fun together.
Spiritual Life or Individual History
Both of them are Christians and extremely devote and go to church on Sunday
without any fail.
General impression

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MARRIAGE COUNSELLING
Communication style
Phillip and Amanda are in amplifier and condenser communication style where
Phillip is the amplifier who keeps on talking a lot about what he has seen, has thought in
large number on the contrary Amanda is the condenser because she only talks about the
things which are necessary. She enjoys what Phillip has to say and does not stop him from
expressing himself (McCarthy & Ross, 2019).
Relation to the outside world
Amanda is especially expert in maintaining a good social relationship with everyone
because she has a strong idea of how to balance things whereas Phillip finds solace and peace
only in Amanda (Díaz-Loving, 2019). Therefore Amanda keeps good relationship with the
relatives and friends even maintaining her condenser style of communication while Phillip is
more comfortable in sharing things with her only.
Response to the Intimacy
It is evident from the way they communicate is they are extremely comfortable with
each other in sharing things which signifies they do not have to hide anything from each other
even if it concerns liking another person in the office party or smoking three cigarettes extra
than what has been promised. No matter what they do not keep any secret from each other.
Although Amanda is a person of few words she does not restrain herself from sharing
everything with Philip (Padurariu et al., 2017). They in fact do not hesitate to share about
their conjugal relationship. They are very open and liberal while sharing about their personal
preferences. Although they are quite different in nature they do not feel incompatible with
each other (Hardy & Fisher, 2018).
Strength and Weakness

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The couple are comfortable with each other therefore no chance of keeping secret
from one another. They trust each other to some different extend which helps them to solve
problems together prioritizing each other every time they face any problem. They
communicate freely without keeping any boundaries (Shamsipour et al., 2018). The only
weakness they have is that they are unable to make more time for each other which they are
planning to spend because of their approaching temporary separation.
Comments
They are very spontaneous as a couple and compatibility is clearly visible. They give
space to each other and they have an immense amount of respect for each other.
Evaluation
Learning
I have come to know that as a couple it is possible to get married and plan together to
focus on the career at the same time. Giving each other time and making each other feel good
also make the person happy who is putting the effort. It is important for everyone to stay as
transparent as possible. Hiding things from the partner does not really help the relationship
rather it has a chance to impair everything that could have gone better (Clinton, 2018). This
couple is partially meticulous because of the practicality Amanda tries to bring into the
relationship and it is also a remarkable point that is Phillip beautifully fits into the decisions.
He does not have to struggle to agree with Amanda. He shows his designs to Amanda and she
feels intrigued and Amanda also talks about her everyday experience in school. Phillip
completely enjoys it and they love each other’s company. I have understood that when an
individual is busy and is struggling a lot to make things better it can be solved through
communication. This is the best door to close the doors of all problems. For them life is going

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to be really different and not easy at all. However they are happy and not regretting on their
decisions because they are willing to prosper together in a supportive way. I have learnt that
keeping faith in each other is very important to grow mature together.
Self-evaluation
Since I have conducted the interview with them I learnt that I should change my way
of approaching the couple according to the way they react. The last interview I conducted
was not that comfortable and the participants were hesitant to open up but here in this
interview I tried a method of letting them speak their heart out. I did not stop them in between
and let them say whatever they felt like. I have figured out that there is no need of predefined
questionnaire because that sometimes scares the couple. They tend to open up naturally.
Therefore I have decided to talk to them in a friendly and light hearted approach like one
does with his friends meeting after a long gap. Since I have applied all the techniques I have
been thinking about I have come out with good results. The couple has opened up and shared
things freely. This method will help me to reach out to them easily. A couple might have
problem with each other then they have to be interviewed separately to analyze the case in
detail. For that I have to approach the couple in a way so that I can understand from first two
or three minutes whether they are comfortable with each other or not and act accordingly.

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References
Berg, J., & Byrne, N. (2017). The developmental framework: How couples and families
grow. In Working with Developmental Anxieties in Couple and Family
Psychotherapy (pp. 24-41). Routledge.
Díaz-Loving, R. (2019). Couple Relationships. In Ethnopsychology (pp. 125-152). Springer,
Cham.
Clinton, R. (2018). The making of a leader: Recognizing the lessons and stages of leadership
development. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc..
Hardy, N. R., & Fisher, A. R. (2018). Attachment versus differentiation: The contemporary
couple therapy debate. Family process, 57(2), 557-571.
MacIntosh, H. B. (2019). Developmental Couple Therapy for Complex Trauma: A Manual
for Therapists. Routledge.
McCarthy, B., & Ross, L. W. (2019). Relational Style and Couple Sexual Style: Similar or
Different. The Family Journal, 1066480719852986.
Padurariu, M., Ciobica, A., Dobrin, I., Chirita, R., & Stefanescu, C. (2017). Social and ethical
implications of oxytocin intranasal administration in couple therapy. Is this the next
Cupid's bow?. Bulletin of Integrative Psychiatry, 23(2), 69-74.
Shamsipour, H. S., Mohammadi, H., Azari, E., & Norouzi, M. (2018). The Effect of
Emotion-focused Couple Therapy Based on Religious Teachings on Social
Compatibility and Marital Conflicts. Journal of Research on Religion & Health, 4(4),
44-58.