Lorelei Simpson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles

 Couples Research Lab

Research interests

• Severe mental illness and relationship functioning
• Relationship aggression
• Couple therapy
 

Broadly, my research interests focus on understanding and treating so-called “difficult couples” – those couples that are facing behavioral or psychological difficulties as well as relationship distress. I am particularly interested in couples in which a partner has a severe mental illness and in couples experiencing low-level relationship aggression, a type of domestic violence that appears to be especially common among couples seeking treatment. Currently, my research program focuses on relationship functioning and aggression among couples in which a partner has bipolar disorder and the ways in which the relationship may act as a protective factor to assist partners in coping with the illness, or as a risk factor, exacerbating life stress and symptoms. This research is intended to lead to development of a conjoint treatment for co-occurring bipolar disorder and relationship distress. Other areas of interest include conjoint interventions for low-level relationship aggression and the assessment and understanding of typologies of relationship aggression.

Representative Publications
Simpson, L.E., Christensen, A. (2005). Spousal agreement regarding relationship aggression among treatment-seeking couples. Psychological Assessment, 17(4), 423-432.

Doss, B.D., Simpson, L.E., Christensen, A. (2004). Why do couples seek marital therapy? Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 35 (6), 608-614.

Gattis, K.S., Berns, S., Simpson, L.E., Christensen, A. (2004). Birds of a Feather or Strange Birds? Ties Between Personality, Similarity, and Marital Quality. Journal of Family Psychology, 18 (4), 564-574.

Christensen, A., Atkins, D., Berns, S., Wheeler, J., Baucom, D., Simpson, L.E. (2004). Traditional versus integrative behavioral couple therapy for significantly and chronically distressed married couples. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72 (2), 176-191.

Christensen, A., Sevier, M., Simpson, L.E., Gattis, K. (2004). Acceptance, mindfulness, and change in couple therapy. In Hayes, S. C., Follette, V. M., & Linehan, M. (Eds.), Mindfulness and acceptance: Expanding the cognitive behavioral tradition. New York: Guilford Press.

Sevier, M., Simpson, L.E., Christensen, A. (2004). Couples interaction rating system (CIRS). In Kerig, P.K., Baucom, D. (Eds.), Couple observational coding systems. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, Associates.

Simpson, L.E., Gattis, K.S., Christensen, A. (2003). Couples therapy. In Cavalieri, D.M. (Ed.), International encyclopedia of marriage and family relationships, second edition. New York, NY: Macmillan Reference USA.

Simpson, L.E., Doss, B.D., Wheeler, J., & Christensen, A. (2007).  Relationship violence among couples seeking therapy: Common couple violence or battering?  Journal of Marital and Family Therapy

Simpson, L.E., Atkins, D.C., Gattis, K.S., & Christensen, A. (in press).  Low-level relationship aggression and couple therapy outcomes.  Journal of Family  Psychology.

Birchler, G.R., Simpson, L.E., & Fals-Stewart, W. (in press).  Marital therapy.  In M. Hersen & A. M. Gross (Eds.), Handbook of clinical psychology, volume 1: Adults. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.