This partner is then able to become more accessible and responsive to the victim and is usually very relieved to discover a way to help his or her victimized partner heal. Marital distress, which is, in itself, a significant stressor and is associated with depression, is reduced. The traumatic experience and the distressed interaction patterns in the relationship become the enemy, rather than the other spouse. Isolation, which tends to exacerbate fear and anxiety, is reduced and the ability to trust is fostered. In general, safe attachment has been identified as the primary defense against trauma.
Couples therapy is able to directly address the bonding process between partners.
To work with these couples the therapist needs to stay with the victim and his or her partner and help them deal with intense negative affect, particularly fear, and express this affect in a manner that draws the other to them, rather than in a way that initiates stuck cycles of defense and distance. Dealing with strong affect, such as fear, which constricts how people process information and how they interact with others, is part of the everyday process of marital therapy. Helping these couples is then an intensification of a process with which most marital therapists are already familiar. Couples therapists can have an enormous impact here, helping the couple redefine their relationship and their responses to trauma and alleviating the stress this places on the family as a whole. These symptoms are also alive and accessible for modification as they are played out, in front of the therapist, as part of the drama of an intimate relationship.