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Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy pp 1378–1382Cite as

High Conflict Couples

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High conflict couples

Synonyms

Discordant couples; Marital discord

Introduction

Romantic partners regularly encounter conflict in their relationships. Many partners are able to resolve conflicts before emotions escalate to avoid more volatile arguments. According to Gottman and Gottman (2015), most relationship conflict is perpetual and unsolvable due to personality differences. However, if partners are able to engage in constructive dialogue about their personality differences and engage in self-soothing techniques, the argument will be less likely to escalate in intensity. However, some partners are more vulnerable to emotional escalation, which has the potential to intensify arguments and lead to what Gottman and Gottman (2015) refer to as gridlockedconflict. This form of persistent and intense conflict is destructive to an intimate relationship and can define a couple as “high conflict.” Negative relationship processes and interactions of high conflict couples...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

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

    Kristen Herdegen & Maru Torres-Gregory

Authors
  1. Kristen Herdegen
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  2. Maru Torres-Gregory
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kristen Herdegen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Center for Applied Psychological and Family Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Jay L. Lebow

  2. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Center for Applied Psychological and Family Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Anthony L. Chambers

  3. The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Center for Applied Psychological and Family Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Douglas C. Breunlin

Section Editor information

  1. Employee Assistance Program, McLeod Health, Florence, SC, USA

    Farrah Hughes

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

    Allen Sabey

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Herdegen, K., Torres-Gregory, M. (2019). High Conflict Couples. In: Lebow, J.L., Chambers, A.L., Breunlin, D.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49425-8_465

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