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0 Introduction to Research Proposals Social Work Research: Couple Counseling This research proposal is going to be focused on the case study about couple counselling. Marriage is an important aspect in every community. Many couples who are experiencing abuse or violence in their relationship choose to stay as a family (Bradley, Drummey, Gottman, & Gottman, 2014). Couple counseling projects always involve services such as training, researching, and offering counseling program so that couples who have experienced abuses or violence can benefit from and allow them to have abuse free-relationship. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) couples are seeking therapeutic help through engaging the counselors who assist them with their relationships and issues being faced outside the relationship, for example, external stigma (Duchame & Kollar, 2012). Many people choose stay in a relationship due to the desire to establish, maintain and prolong a life lasting relationship with someone. Unfortunately, at times not all relationships end well. As a result, there are many disappointments which have been witnessed and therefore calls for the services of a marriage counselor or some form of professional help (Lytle, Vaughan, Eric, & Schmerler, 2015). Marriage counseling is considered to be important in the restoration of the relationship and marital union. This particular research paper is based on looking at some of the issues related to conflict of same-sex couples. The research proposal paper is targeted at investigating some of the challenges of the LGBT couples which usually leads to the complication in the process of helping them. Research Questions What are some of the challenges faced by LGBT couples which usually lead to the complication in the process of helping them? What is the effectiveness of the treatment tools in addressing conflict of LGBT couples? Research Problem The challenges and other shortcomings related to the interventions being provided to the couples. Occasionally, major factors leading to the shortcomings of the interventions are related to the tools being utilized in tracking the improvement as well as the progress of the being tackled for example communication methods. Couple counseling is always considered as a common issue within society due to the presence of various elements which forms the subject of counseling and therapy. Couples always tend to be unique in their own ways based on the challenges being faced. This is the case despite the fact that counseling procedures, skills, and the tools used for the assessment process might look identical to the general problems. Even though conflict among couples can be considered to be a common issue during the counseling process, handling LGBT couples requires counselors to pay special attention to some of the delicate couples. Assisting heterosexual couples in overcoming conflict is always viewed differently by the counselors in addressing LGBT couples. The relationships which involve same-sex couples are associated with many challenges and most of these challenges are faced during the interaction with other people, strengths, and vulnerabilities of people belonging to this sexual category. Provision of therapeutic counseling and help to the LGBT couple is important in improving communication process as well as the relations which need professionalism and proficiency in psychotherapy which determines the achievement or disappointment of counseling session (Moller & Andreas, 2015). A large number of counselors are faced with challenges and difficulties in handling issues faced by same-sex couples. The whole counseling process and even some stages sometimes fail to meet the objective of the counseling procedure. Some difficulties occur during the tracking of communication level between couples using a scale or a chart. There are situations whereby improvements can be noted during the early stages of the counseling process, however, the process might languish soon after. Maintenance of a progressive development on the issue which is being resolved therefore causes challenges to the counselors. Literature Review At present, the practice of couple counseling is being recognized as an important process since it helps in ensuring that there is the existence of a sound relationship. According to the analysis report which was presented based on the countrywide representative samples of 12, 279 females and 10, 402 males of ages 1 to 44 years in the highly populated regions of United States, more than 50 percent of marriages in the United States are ending in divorce (Copen, Daniels, Vespa, & Mosher, 2012). However, studies indicate that relationship problems can be addressed by involving the process of couple counseling. In performing an unrestrained research of Gottman Method Couples Therapy in transforming relationship contentment amongst 106 gay and lesbian couples, a measurement of relationship contentment was carried out at five separate time stages. There was an improvement in the relationship satisfaction after eleven gatherings of therapies for both gay males and lesbian couples (Salvatore, Alapaki, Gottman, Julie, Carrie, & Preciado, 2015; Jennings, Skovholt, & Lian, 2013). Couple counseling is important in addressing different kinds of relationships which are related to dating, engagement, and marriage. There are a number of issues which can affect the relationship and some of them are related to sexual issues, money issues, children and partnering issues, misunderstanding, and communication disorders among others. Other issues affecting relationship include cheating, adultery, overworking, lack of support, and jealousy and this result in the creation of tension in the family (Copen, Daniels, Vespa, & Mosher, 2012). In an attempt to help LGBT couples, counselors are always finding it hard to help the situation because the majority of these couples enter into therapy with some adverse experiences with family, friends, clergy, health care providers, and school. This makes them have deeply internalized negative beliefs concerning their attraction or identities. Some of these couples might be confused or puzzled by the efforts being made by the mental health providers while communicating about some positive aspects of their experiences as sexual minorities instead of exclusive focus on the diagnosis. LGBT individuals are also likely to present for treatment because of various reasons and in such situations, the use of positive psychology might prove important in the identification, fostering, and using client strength within the context of treating more severe psychopathology (Copen, Daniels, Vespa, & Mosher, 2012). Challenges faced by LGBT couples which usually lead to the complication in the process of helping them Even though there are efforts being made by counselors to help LGBT couples towards overcoming their issues, there are a number of challenges which affects the process of incorporating positive psychology in practice. Clements-Nolle and his colleagues reported that a high proportion of LGBT individuals has suicidal thoughts and there it is becoming hard to protect them from suicidal behavior. Other challenges include sexual problems, money issues, issues related to parenting and children, misunderstandings, in-law challenges, and communication disorders among other issues. There are also issues brought by variation in the interest of the couples, adultery, and cheating among others. Overcoming the existing gap (challenges faced by LGBT individuals) The effectiveness of the treatment tools in addressing conflict of LGBT couples There are is a huge gap concerning the mechanism or the methods through which LGBT couples can be helped to overcome the challenges in the daily lives. It is the responsibility of the counselor to look into effective methods or tools which can be used to help these individuals overcome these challenges. One of the proposed tools which can be relied upon to help in reducing this gap is relying on the strength of hope technique to help individuals in overcoming suicidal thoughts and making individuals have a feeling of being connected to others. Also, it is important to rely on the LGBT affiliation which can help in fostering LGBT community. This is because it helps in creating a positive institution which influences positive traits like courage and resiliency. Counselors can also make suggestions of several opportunities for the couples on the means of addressing the problems and challenges which hinder their happiness. Creation of a supportive environment by counselors is important since it helps in determining, communicating, interpreting some of the concerns and facilitating positive changes and understanding. There are also coaching instructions and the professional feedbacks which can be offered by counselors to the couples thus helping couples to develop new skills of enhancing their relationships. According to Gottman and Silver (2015), about 5 percent of couples who are on the edge of divorce are seeking marriage counseling and this, therefore, implies that majority of the couples are unsure concerning what they should be expecting from the practice of couple counseling. Based on Gottman Method Couples Therapy (GMCT), treatment to the LGBT is based on the evaluation of the relationship; lively medication; and the prevention of the relapse. The system is based on assessing and attending to the companionship system, system in the management of conflict, and collective meaning system (Salvatore, Alapaki, Gottman, Julie, Carrie, & Preciado, 2015). Conflict intervention addresses the past conflict of each couple which might have developed the attachment damages, the present conflict, and the continuous conflicts. The friendship or intimacy interventions involve asking the couple to utilize card decks or the phone app versions. In this system, the sexual relationship of the partners is well thought-out to be part of the friendship system and later tackled using Salsa Card Deck. Shared interventions are achieved through the development of stress-reducing discussion and the use of card desk known as Build Rituals of Connections. In this system, couples are motivated to create rituals that would be important when it is implemented in their daily lives for example birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries. Conclusions Positive counseling is important towards helping the LGBT couples overcome their problems. A positive approach is important since it revolves around putting a focus on the strengths as well as the framework which can assists physicians to recognize and commemorate the positive aspect of LGBT life experiences. Despite the fact that they are faced with many challenges, counselors are having an exceptional opportunity of leading the way of creating a more theoretical and empirical-based knowledge of LGBT strengths. Overcoming issues related to LGBT counseling requires the adoption of necessary skills to help couples. References Bradley, R. C., Drummey, K., Gottman, J. M., & Gottman, J. S. (2014). Treating couples who mutually exhibit violence or aggression: reducing behaviors that show a susceptibility for violence. Journal of Family Violence, 29, 549-558. Copen, C. E., Daniels, K., Vespa, J., & Mosher, W. D. (2012). First Marriages in the United States: Data from the 2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth. National Health Statistics Reports. Number 49. National Center for Health Statistics. Duchame, J. K., & Kollar, M. M. (2012). Does the “marriage benefit” extend to same-sex union: Evidence from a sample of married lesbian couples in Massachusetts. Journal of Homosexuality, 59, 580-591. Jennings, L., Skovholt, M., & Lian, F. (2013). “Master therapists: Explorations of expertise.” The developing practitioner: Growth and stagnation of therapists and counselors. New York, NY: Routledge. Lytle, M. C., Vaughan, M. D., Eric, M. R., & Schmerler, L. D. (2015). Working with LGBT Individuals: Incorporating Positive Psychology into Training and Practice. Psychol Sex Orientat Gend Divers, 1 (4), 335-347. Moller, N., & Andreas, V. (2015). Defining infidelity in research and couple counseling: A qualitative study. Journal of sex & marital therapy, 41 (5), 487-497. Salvatore, G., Alapaki, Y., Gottman, J., Julie, G., Carrie, C., & Preciado, M. (2015). Results of Gottman method couples therapy with gay and lesbian couples. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 1-11.