Why I study... close relationships

My interest in the study of close relationships was partly sparked off in the 1970s by my attempt to understand what it was about psychotherapy that made it effective. At the time I had been asked to teach an undergraduate course on personality, which was not an unreasonable request as I had recently completed my PhD with Hans Eysenck on his personality theory. It seemed to me then (and still does) that many of the major theories of personality are largely concerned with explaining how psychological disorders such as anxiety and depression developed, and how they can be treated. The principles underlying the development of a disorder are generally similar to those underlying their treatment.

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