Couple’s counseling is based on the premise that a couple's relationship problems are best handled within the context
of the couple’s relationship.
Typically, both partners in the relationship attend the counseling session to discuss the couple’s specific issues, although many
couple's therapists find it useful to see the partners individually as well. When individual counseling is done, it is generally
with the understanding that whatever is discussed will be brought into the couple's counseling sessions.
Setting Goals in Couple's Counseling
The aim of couple’s counseling
is to help a couple deal appropriately with their immediate problems and to learn better ways of relating in general.
However, the more specific the goals are in couple's counseling, the better the chances of success.
Couples therapy or couple’s counseling is a useful modality of help for couples who are experiencing difficulties such as repetitive arguments,
feelings of distance or emptiness in the relationship, pervasive feelings of anger, resentment and or dissatisfaction or lack of interest in
affection or in a physical relationship with one another.
Research on couples counseling has suggested that significant data exists support the efficacy of family and couples therapy.
Research outcomes on couples counseling suggest the following:
At the end of couple’s therapy, 75% of couples receiving therapy are better off than similar couples who did not receive therapy.
Sixty five percent of couples report "significant" improvement based on averaged scores of marital "satisfaction."
Most couples will benefit from therapy, but both spouses will not necessarily experience the same outcomes or benefits.
Therapies that produce the greatest gain and are able to maintain that gain over the long amount of time, tend to affect the couple's
emotional bonds and help the spouse's work together to achieve a greater level of "differentiation" or emotional maturity.
In determining as a couple what type of therapist that you wish to receive treatment from keep in mind that according to a large-scale
survey of over 4,000 Consumer Reports readers showed in 1995, people in therapy generally rated psychologists, clinical social workers,
and psychiatrists about as equally effective in helping their clients.
Some couples feel increasingly isolated and are expected to manage their lives and families without the community supports that in the past
were a primary resource in raising children and meeting family needs. Some couples are less bound by family traditions and
are freer than ever before to develop relationships unlike those of the families that they were raised in. On the other hand, other couples
feel strained by the pressures of family to live within old cultural standards that can be difficult to adhere to in today's culture.
With the aid of a qualified clinician, couples can bring peace, stability and communication back into their relationship thus affecting their
lives and the lives of those most impacted by them and their relationship.
References (To view, roll mouse over the "References" heading; to hide, click on the heading)
Carter B., & McGoldrick M., (1989). The expanded family life cycle; Individual, family, and social perspectives. Allyn and Bacon: Boston.
Emanuels-Zuurveen, L. & Emmelkamp, P. M. (1996) Individual behavioural - cognitive therapy v. marital therapy for depression in
maritally distressed couples. British Journal of Psychiatry, 169, 181-188.
Friedlander, M. (1997). The scientific basis of couples and family therapy research. Allyn and Bacon: Boston.
Jacobson, N. S., & Addis, M.E. (1993). Research on couples and couple therapy: What do we know? Where are we going? Journal of Consulting
and Clinical Psychology 61(1), 85-93.
Pinsof, W. M. & Wynne, L.C. (2000). Toward progress research: Closing the gap between family therapy practice and research.
Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 26, 1-8.
Pinsof, W. M., Wynne, L. C., & Hambright, A. (1996). The outcomes of couple and family therapy: Findings, conclusions and
recommendations. Psychotherapy: Theory, Practice and Research, 33, 321-331.
Spanier, G. B. (1976) Measuring dyadic adjustment: new scales for assessing the quality of marriage and similar dyads. Journal of
Marriage & the Family, 38, 15-28.
Stanton, M. & Shadish, W. (1997) Outcome, attrition and family-couples treatment for drug abuse: a meta-analysis and review of
the controlled comparative studies. Psychological Bulletin, 122, 170-191.
