Couple &
Sex Therapy.

WRITTEN FOR THE PEOPLE WHO DO THE WORK.

Dr. Stephen Betchen is a marriage and family therapist, certified sex therapist, and the originator of Integrative Conflict Therapy (ICT, formerly Master Conflict Therapy.) His eight books, published by Routledge and Simon & Schuster, are used by clinicians, supervisors, and graduate programs across the country. His newest, Couple and Sex Therapy Supervision, is the first clinical guide of its kind.

For forty years he has worked with couples and trained the therapists who treat them, and he's written eight books out of that practice. Whether you supervise, treat, or teach, this is a library built for your work.

Explore the books

About Dr. Betchen

Couple embracing each other in the outdoor sun

New from Routledge — July 7, 2026

Couple and Sex Therapy Supervision

A Supervisor's Guide to Treating Couples with Sexual Problems

The first clinical guide of its kind. Draws on psychoanalytic conflict-systems theory to give couple and sex therapy supervisors the frameworks and case-based guidance their supervisees need — across cultures, orientations, and presenting problems. Indispensable for training programs, institutes, and clinicians doing supervision work.

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Master Conflict Therapy:

THE THINKING BEHIND THE WORK.

Dr. Betchen's clinical work is built on a different premise: that each partner carries an internal conflict rooted in their family of origin, and that we unconsciously choose partners who share it. That pull is real. It explains the intensity of early attraction — and, over time, the source of escalating distance. The goal of therapy isn't to eliminate the conflict. It's to understand it well enough to stop letting it run the relationship.

Learn more about Dr. Betchen's approach

Relationship
Advice

Dr. Betchen has been writing about couples, conflict, and sex therapy on Psychology Today since 2010.
Over nine million readers.

A concentric ring diagram narrowing from the outside in: an outer ring labeled sociocultural context, a middle ring labeled supervisory relationship, and a deep green core labeled Master Conflict Therapy. The image argues that the clinical model sits inside a larger human context the supervisor has to account for.

The Supervisor's Own Lens: Cultural Humility, Bias, and Where MCT Fits

Before the clinical model enters the room, the supervisor's own history is already there. On cultural humility, bias, and where Master Conflict Therapy fits in supervision.

A supervisory triangle diagram: the supervisor at the top, connected down to the supervisee in the middle, connected down to a couple at the base, shown as two partners in light and deep red joined by a dotted line. The structure argues that accountability flows downward through three tiers, with the therapeutic alliance and the couple's own bond both accounted for.

Two Clients, One Supervisee, and a Sexual Presenting Problem

Most supervisors are trained to manage one client at a time. Couple and sex therapy supervision means two clients, one supervisee, and a sexual presenting problem that changes everything.

An animation showing a circle labeled "Couple Therapy" and a circle labeled "Sex Therapy" sliding toward each other until they fully merge into a single, unified circle representing "One Practice.

Why Couple Therapy and Sex Therapy Can't Stay in Their Lanes

Couple therapy and sex therapy grew up separately. For decades that made sense. It doesn't anymore. The couples in the room today don't sort their problems neatly, and the therapists treating them, and the supervisors training those therapists, are often working with half the picture.

Read the full archive on Psychology Today →

Couple & Sex Therapy.