Psychotherapy for gay male couples

Although there is no specific therapy for gay male couples, this paper outlines the more critical issues therapists must understand to provide optimal treatment for gay male dyads. Additionally, the authors present new assumptions arising from their five year research study of 156 gay male couples living together from one to over 37 years. The most therapeutically useful finding is that stages of these relationships parallel stages of clinical development. Each stage has its own unique characteristics, stresses and benefits. Stages are affected by many influences, and individuals can be at different stages simultaneously.