NSU Horizons Fall 2018

Experts agree: Romantic partnerships in the 21st century look very different than they did when Ward and June Cleaver were the American ideal. Martha Gonzalez Marquez, Ph.D., chair and associate professor in the Department of Family Therapy at Nova Southeastern University’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS), said that the very makeup of couples and families today is different than it was just 10 years ago. There are more LGBTQ couples in same sex marriages, multicultural and multiracial couples from diverse backgrounds, people marrying later in life, remarriages on the rise, and more couples who live together instead of marrying. Partnering is complex. There are also more external factors complicating modern marriages than when grandma and grandpa tied the knot. “Adult children are moving back after being gone, and middle-aged couples are having to take care of elderly parents, sometimes having them move into their home,” says Arlene Brett Gordon, Ph.D., LMFT, director of the Brief Therapy Institute at CAHSS. “These are some of the variables couples are facing.” 13 NSU HORIZONS continued on next page