Cognitive behavioral techniques have a wide application beyond the narrow categories of psychological disorders; they have been applied effectively, for example, to helping people with low self-esteem, those with weight problems, those who wish to give up smoking, and, as in this case, those with relationship problems hoping to avoid the claws of the divorce lawyers.

This divorce and relationship website is based partly on a cognitive-behavioral approach to relationship problems. This can be, however, only partially successful, because the behavior and thinking of the two individuals involved is only part of the story. Things happen in relationships which neither partner seems to have initiated, but which arise from the ongoing patterns that have built up over the course of the relationship. This is where systemic thinking comes in, and this can help us to understand and change the patterns of interaction which may otherwise seem difficult to alter.