Relationship Guidance, Mindfulness, and Couple Well-Being

Dear Colleagues,

Relationship education has long provided help to couples working to strengthen their relationship [1]. Contemplative practices such as mindfulness, self-compassion, and intentional communication strategies have shown effectiveness in helping couples address common problems within a marriage and other long-term relationships [2–4]. These skills are making important contributions to how relationship education is delivered, its effectiveness, and participant acceptance. Therapists are also interested in incorporating contemplative skills into therapy and have seen positive outcomes in relational and sexual well-being. These contemplative skills may be associated with couple connectedness, relational satisfaction, communication satisfaction, sexual satisfaction, and sexual functioning and frequency. Additionally, individuals may also report improved self-esteem, body image, and self-efficacy. This Special Issue will address the most recent findings and uses of these skills in relationship education and therapy.

References

1. Markman, H.J.; Hawkins, A.J.; Stanley, S.M.; Halford, W.K.; Rhoades, G. Helping couples achieve relationship success: A decade of progress in couple relationship education research and practice, 2010–2019. Marital. Fam. Ther. 2022, 48, 251–282.
2. Gambrel, L. E. The Mindful Transition to Parenthood Program: Developing and Evaluating a Psychoeducational-Experiential Intervention for Couples Expecting Their First Child, Ph.D. Thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Winchester, VA, USA, 2012.
3. Leavitt, C.E.; Whiting, J.B.; Hawkins, A.J. The sexual mindfulness project: An initial presentation of the sexual and relational associations of sexual mindfulness. Couple Relatsh. Ther. 2021, 20, 32–49.
4. Liu, X.; Wheeler, N.J.; Broda, M.D.; Daire, A.P.; Dominguez, V.N.; Griffith, S.A. M.; Pease, J.C. Relationship satisfaction trajectories among low-income ethnic minority couples before and after a relationship education intervention. Soc. Pers. Relatsh. 2020, 37, 2053–2077.

Dr. Chelom Leavitt
Dr. David B. Allsop
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sexes is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• relationship education
• mindfulness
• sexual functioning
• sexual satisfaction
• relational satisfaction
• communication