SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Couples Therapy”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed2000

The London Depression Intervention Trial. Randomised controlled trial of antidepressants v. couple therapy in the treatment and maintenance of people with depression living with a partner: clinical outcome and costs.

BACKGROUND: Relapse of depression is associated with a criticising attitude of the patient's partner. AIMS: To compare the relative efficacy and cost of couple therapy and antidepressant drugs for the treatment and maintenance of people with depression living with a critical partner. METHOD: A randomised controlled trial of antidepressant drugs v. couple therapy. The subjects were 77 people meeting criteria for depression living with a critical partner. RESULTS: Drop-outs were 56.8% [corrected] from drug treatment and 15% from couple therapy. Subjects' depression improved in both groups, but couple therapy showed a significant advantage, according to the Beck Depression Inventory, both at the end of treatment and after a second year off treatment. Adding the costs of the interventions to the costs of services used showed there was no appreciable difference between the two treatments. CONCLUSIONS: For this group couple therapy is much more acceptable than antidepressant drugs and is at least as efficacious, if not more so, both in the treatment and maintenance phases. It is no more expensive overall.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Gender-related therapist attributions in couples therapy: a preliminary multiple case study investigation.

Differential treatment by gender has been an ongoing area of concern and uncertainty both in society at large and in clinical research. In this investigation, therapist attributions over the course of therapy for three different couples were coded and analyzed to determine if cause for positive and negative events was assigned differentially to females and males. Additionally, the stability and globality dimensions of the therapist's attributions about the couples were examined for stereotypical gender-related patterns. Results indicate no gender differences in locus of causal attributions but some gender-related patterns in stability and globality dimensions. Implications for both couples therapy and gender bias in couples research are discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed1987

Brief goal-limited couple therapy in the treatment of homosexuals.

Brief goal-limited homosexual couple therapy can provide a useful adjunct to individual therapy of homosexuals. Utilization of couple therapy in the treatment of two male homosexual patients is described. Some general differences are noted in the treatment of homosexual couples as contrasted with heterosexual couples. The therapeutic effect of this type of intervention combined with individual therapy is discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Integrative behavioral couple therapy for chronic pain: promoting behavior change and emotional acceptance.

Couple therapy has been used with success in treating marital distress, psychological distress, and other problems. Researchers in the pain field have also shown that the inclusion of the spouse in pain treatment may be beneficial to the patient. In this article, we present integrative behavioral couple therapy (IBCT) as one option for therapists treating patients who have pain and marital distress. IBCT improves on traditional behavior therapy because it promotes processes that have been shown to be lacking in pain patients' relationships: emotional acceptance and empathy. After reviewing the use of behavior change and emotional acceptance strategies in couples, we describe a couple for whom IBCT improved functioning.

Accidental Falls↗

PubMed2002

The role of couple therapy in the treatment of narcissistic personality disorder.

Recommendations for psychotherapeutic management of patients with narcissistic personality disorder are based on clinical experience; however, little attention has been given to the role of couple therapy with these patients. A stable intimate relationship appears to positively affect the course and outcome of narcissistic personality disorder. Based on clinical experience with narcissistic individuals in couple therapy and using a psychoanalytic framework, three characteristics that differentiate couples who will from those who will not benefit from couple therapy are described. These characteristics are the ability of the narcissistic individual to curtail acting out, the narcissistic vulnerability as evidenced by their level of defensiveness, and the couple's complementarity of narcissistic gratification. Two clinical examples are given to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed characteristics in deciding on the appropriateness of couple therapy.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Is couple therapy indicated for borderline personality disorder?

The healing aspects of intimate relationships are being recognized by therapists and supported by empirical findings. Little has been written regarding the indications for couple therapy for individuals with borderline personality disorder. This paper proposes a three-level hierarchy for deciding on the suitability of couple therapy for patients with borderline personality disorder. The hierarchy is based on three separate borderline behavioral clusters--impulsive, identity, and affective--that should be utilized to direct the application of couple therapy to specific patients. The three levels are illustrated by case examples. Delineation of the indications for couple therapy for borderline patients will foster further theoretical and empirical work in the area.

Adult↗

PubMed2026

Effects of Cognitive Behavioral Couple Therapy With Integrated Mindfulness on Mindful Attention, Depressive Symptoms, and Dyadic Adjustment in Low-Income Couples: A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial.

Psychosocial distress can exacerbate marital conflict, maladjustment, and mental health vulnerability. This pilot randomized clinical trial examined cognitive-behavioral couple therapy (CBCT) integrated with mindfulness in low-income Brazilian couples (per-capita household income up to one minimum wage). Thirty-four participants (17 heterosexual couples) were randomized (independent computer-generated sequence) to an experimental (n = 16) or waitlist control group (n = 18). We assessed dyadic adjustment, mindful attention, marital social skills, and depressive symptoms (R-DAS, MAAS, IHSC, BDI-II) at baseline, post-treatment, and 3-month follow-up. The intervention was eight 80-min conjoint sessions plus daily home exercises. Time × group effects favored the experimental group for dyadic adjustment, mindful attention, and depressive symptoms (all p < 0.001, = 0.20-0.37), but not marital social skills (p = 0.14). Because two outcomes differed at baseline, effects were confirmed with baseline- and dependence-adjusted sensitivity analyses. These findings provide preliminary evidence that CBCT with mindfulness may benefit disadvantaged couples.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

The history of couple therapy: a millennial review.

In this article, we review the major conceptual and clinical influences and trends in the history of couple therapy to date, and also chronicle the history of research on couple therapy. The evolving patterns in theory and practice are reviewed as having progressed through four distinctive phases: Phase I--Atheoretical Marriage Counseling Formation (1930-1963); Phase II--Psychoanalytic Experimentation (1931-1966); Phase III--Family Therapy Incorporation (1963-1985); and Phase IV--Refinement, Extension, Diversification, and Integration (1986-present). The history of research in the field is described as having passed through three phases: Phase I--A Technique in Search of Some Data (1930-1974), Phase II--Irrational(?) Exuberance (1975-1992), and Phase III--Caution and Extension (1993-present). The article concludes with the identification of Four Great Historical Ironies in the History of Couple Therapy.

Couples Therapy↗

PubMed1991

A controlled study of couple therapy in chronic low back pain patients. Effects on marital satisfaction, psychological distress and health attitudes.

This was a controlled, prospective study on the effectiveness of couple therapy in 63 chronic low back pain patients (CLBP) from primary health care centers. They were randomly allocated to a couple therapy (T) group, N = 33, and to a control (C) group, N = 30. Couple therapy consisting of five monthly sessions was conducted by two family therapists. All patients and their spouses participated in a 12-month follow-up. Marital communication improved in CLBP patients of the T-group, whereas it worsened in the C-group. Psychological distress decreased in male patients of the T-group, whereas it increased in male patients of the C-group. However, due to high initial levels of distress in male patients of the T-group no firm conclusion of therapy effect can be done. The trends in health attitudes of the patients were similar during the study year. No significant differences in any of the measures were found in spouses. It is concluded that couple therapy improves the quality of life in CLBP patients by enhancing marital communication.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2005

Analyzing nonindependent outcomes in couple therapy using the actor-partner interdependence model.

The nonindependent components of couple data require data-analytic strategies tailored to the interpersonal processes occurring between relationship partners. This article examines the benefits of a specifically dyadic analytic method, the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM), for evaluating interpartner influence across time. Both conceptual and methodological features of the APIM are exemplified by applying this model to observations of negative and positive affect and global distress in spouses participating in a randomized trial of couple therapy. In addition to elucidating specific advantages of the APIM relative to alternative data-analytic strategies, the current results shed new light on previous findings from a comparative treatment outcome study evaluating behavioral and insight-oriented approaches to couple therapy.

Couples Therapy↗

PubMed2004

The therapeutic alliance in couples therapy: clinical considerations.

This article presents clinical considerations about the therapeutic alliance in couples therapy, stimulated by pertinent new research findings reported in this issue. A loyalty dimension of the couple's relationship is described, as well as its influence on the therapeutic alliance in couples therapy. The therapist's establishment of a "meta-alliance" with the couple around their loyalty conflicts, avoidance of splits and disruptions, and prioritization of marital distress (versus individual symptoms) as the primary focus of treatment all serve to solidify the therapeutic alliance. In addition, identifying the partners' early family-of-origin distress can help predict and respond to strains in the therapeutic alliance that may occur later in therapy. Finally, the therapist helping the couple to balance their relational power differences in therapy and to address their concerns about the impact of the therapist's gender also strengthens their therapeutic alliance. A clinical case and vignettes are included to illustrate these issues.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Optimizing the alliance in couple therapy.

The complexity of the relation between alliance and outcome in couple therapy was investigated in a study of 47 couples in brief therapy. Self-rated alliance was measured after the first and third sessions using the couple version of the Working Alliance Inventory. The results indicated that the correlation between alliance and outcome was significantly stronger when the partners agreed about the strength of the alliance, when the male partner's alliance was stronger than the female's, and when the strength of both partners' alliance increased as therapy progressed. The authors suggest that a unique feature of couple therapy is that the partners have both a preexisting relationship with each other (allegiance) and an alliance with the therapist to balance.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

A controlled study of couple therapy in chronic low back pain patients. No improvement of disability.

Family-oriented approaches and consequent conjoint marital sessions have been widely accepted as ingredients of comprehensive treatment and rehabilitation of chronic pain patients. However, no controlled trials have been conducted to confirm the effectiveness of couple therapy in these patients. We examined 63 chronic low back pain (CLBP) patients identified in primary health care centres. They were randomly allocated to a couple therapy group (n = 33) and to a control group without couple therapy (n = 30). The therapy consisted of five monthly sessions and was attended by two family therapists. All patients attended an initial examination and a 12-month follow-up examination. Effects on self-reported pain, disability, and some clinical measures, as well as on the use of medical services were evaluated. The study groups did not differ significantly in any of the outcome measures. Hence, we conclude that couple therapy has no significant effect on disability in CLBP patients.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2005

Improving relationships: mechanisms of change in couple therapy.

In a sample of 134 married couples randomly assigned to traditional or integrative behavioral couple therapy (TBCT vs. IBCT), a multivariate hierarchical growth curve analysis using latent variable regression revealed that measures of communication, behavior frequency, and emotional acceptance acted as mechanisms of change. TBCT led to greater changes in frequency of targeted behavior early in therapy, whereas IBCT led to greater changes in acceptance of targeted behavior both early and late in therapy. In addition, change in behavioral frequency was strongly related to improvements in satisfaction early in therapy; however, in the 2nd half of therapy, emotional acceptance was more strongly related to changes in satisfaction. Research and clinical implications are discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

Observations on the utility of couples therapy conducted by a psychoanalyst--transference and countertransference in resistance to analysis.

This paper explores the premise that conviction concerning the therapeutic efficacy of psychoanalysis combined with a flexible attitude toward the structure of the analytic situation and the parameters of its techniques facilitates the acceptance of psychoanalysis in suitable cases as the treatment of choice. Clinical data from therapy with couples are presented in support of this premise.

Countertransference↗

PubMed2002

Contextual assessment of couples therapy: the Clinical Discourse Q-Sets.

This article describes a method for creating highly contextual assessments of couples therapy interaction using concepts from Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). According to SFL, talk in interaction serves three primary functions: to mediate social relations, to negotiate representations of reality, and to organize and structure the event as coherent. These concepts are operationalized using observational q-methodology. The Clinical Discourse Q-Sets (CDQS) include three separate q-sets for use by trained observers in rating 12-min segments of couples therapy conversation. Each q-set captures one aspect of the communication process as defined by Systemic Functional theory. Good-to-high reliabilities for the q-set profiles over various (n = 16) couples therapy episodes were found. Preliminary evidence for the conceptual structure and clinical validity of the system was found.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Divorce after couple therapy: an overlooked perspective of outcome research.

This exploratory study provides data about couples that divorced following couple therapy and compares them with couples that remained together. The divorced couples differed from the nondivorced couples in age difference, complaint at intake, positive regard, and empathy at the start of therapy. Most of the couples found couple therapy useful and viewed their divorce as a positive result of therapy.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

[Effects of a brief couples therapy intervention in coronary rehabilitation. A controlled study].

The effects of a brief couple therapy intervention in cardiac rehabilitation was investigated in a randomised controlled trial. The treating physician and a psychologist conducted an intervention of two to four sessions with 19 patients with coronary diseases at the IIa stage according to WHO and their partners. The 21 patients in the control group received standard care with no additional intervention. Depressive symptoms, global self-rating of health status and disease related concerns were assessed at the beginning of training and nine months later. Patients in the experimental group more often stated to feel better immediately after the intervention. Over the observation period they showed significantly more favour-able changes in observer rated depressive symptoms, self-rated health status and concerns. Patients and partners in the experimental group assessed the outcome of rehabilitation significantly more positive after nine months. The findings suggest that a very short couple therapy intervention, which can be administered in routine care, can have positive effects in cardiac out-patient rehabilitation. Larger studies are required for testing whether the effects of such interventions are restricted to depressive symptoms and subjective appraisals, or whether other outcome criteria such as mortality can also be influenced.

Adult↗