Intervention Marriage Is a Beautiful

Intervention Marriage is a beautiful thing within the lives of millions of people. It presents the image of love and companionship. However, for many modern married individuals, the tresses of married life can lead to depression, divorce, and even health problems. To fight the negative ramifications of marital stress, several methodologies are used within counseling practices. Branching of the empirical structure of a systematical observation, musical therapy has been implemented into marital therapy as a way to scientifically track interventions to curb the onset of marital stress.

The onset of marital stress can begin for any number of reasons. Common stressors increase as the couple remains united in marriage. For instance, the happy relationship of newly weds can quickly turn to stress after their title turns from newly weds to unhappily married. A study conducted by Kiecolt-Glaser (2003) found that "declines in marital satisfaction appear to be stable to the first year or two of marriage," (1). Common daily life stressors begin to affect newly married couples as they continue their lives together.

In fact, "For some couples, this decline is dramatic; about a third of divorces occur within the first four years of marriage," Kiecolt-Glaser 2003: 1). These stresses can increase when the married couple brings a child into the relationship. The stress of being pregnant, preparing for a baby, and the years of care after the child is born can increase the marital stress within any particular couple, "Marital stress can also be caused by the impact of having a child.

When a woman is pregnant, she can experience a while range of emotions due to the changing of interpersonal relationship with husband and the building of a new relationship with the unborn child," (Beattie 2005). Not only can such stresses cause psychological issues like depression of both spouses and potentially any children involved, it can also harbor serious negative physical ramifications as well.

Health problems such as various heart conditions can arise of out of the specified stress factors which emulate out of a married couple's situation, especially at risk -- the wives, (Alleyne 2009). There are already a wide variety of treatment methodologies currently in place to treat the plethora of couples facing the tremors of marital stress within their relationship. One view holds that through an empathetic approach, counselors dissect marital issues trough one spouses approach, and then the same with the other (Rugel 2003).

Other theories founded within the realm of an Alderian perspective go further than just exhibiting empathy by the counselor. Rather, the Alderian mode encourages the counselor to actively participate within the marriage as to encourage certain changes or emphasis on a particular piece of the marriage which then stems to further problems, (Watts 2003). These modes of practice have presented success within modern practice with a variety of different applications including within the scope of marital counseling. Branching on this Alderian approach stems other views.

The work and theories of John Mordechai Gottman serve as a fundamental basis to more alternative forms of common types of counseling. Gottman states that typical methodologies, such as a more quantitative approach "would at least let us try to relate marital satisfaction to other aspects of the couple's life circumstances [...] but such a static measure would not tell us much about how the couple interacts with each other," (Bakeman & Gottman 1997:1). Thus, he proposes a more scientific foundation in comparison to an empathy approach, (Gottman & Roy 1990).

According to Gottman, these theories failed married couples because "it is not based on solid empirical knowledge of what is actually predictive of marital dissolution," (Gottman 1999: 6).

Bringing in his aspects of systematic observation as the base for further scientific analysis of marital problems, Gottman understood the need to track and analyze behavior patterns and sequences which actually lead to the end of the relationship, "The aim is to define beforehand various forms of behavior -- behavioral codes -- and then ask observers to record whenever behavior corresponding to the predefined codes occur," (Bakeman & Gottman 1997: 3). Through frequency of behaviors, a scientific approach to marriage theory can be born within a more open and observational environment.

One such observational perspective is that of music integration into marriage therapy. Music therapy has been used in a wide variety of genres and is represented as "the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional," American Music Therapy Association 1999). One study recently integrating music into such therapy was conducted under the heavy stress of couples dealing with one partner being hospitalized, (Hinman 2005).

Analyzing the effect musical therapy had in dealing with such stress showed that "music therapy became a way to facilitate communication and understanding," (Hinman 2005: 38). According to another prominent advocate of music therapy within a more normal context of a marital environment was Don Campbell. Campbell proposed that music can convey a number of messages and feelings that simple talking cannot. Such messages can include negatively associated sounds and feelings, perception changes, and romantic feelings towards the other partner, (Campbell 1997).

Along with conveying messages, music can have a physical impact on individuals when used in therapy. Music can help slow down brain functions and help calm stress. It can also help boost involvement and relaxation within counseling sessions (Campbell 1997). The future of marriage counseling as integrating musical therapy practices proves to be bright. It.