Working With Spousal Caregivers in Rehabilitation Counseling: Considerations for Assessing Love Styles.

For married couples, adjustment to disability is a process that impacts both spouses. Spousal caregivers often report limited or poor coping strategies and can experience caregiver burden. Due to the shared stress, dyadic coping strategies must be considered in addition to individual coping responses. There is limited research explaining why couples engage in dyadic coping more effectively than others. Love styles are categorizations of love behaviors, thoughts, and motivations. Analyzing Lee's (1957) love styles (Eros, Ludus, Storge, Agape, Mania, and Pragma) may lead to a possible explanation. The relationships between love styles, dyadic coping, and caregiver burden are conceptualized, and recommendations for rehabilitation counselors are provided.