The overarching aim of this article is to review the research on relationship education programs and approaches that has been published or accepted for publication since the last review article in 2003. This article provides a critical overview of the relationship education field and sets an agenda for research and practice for the next decade. A…

The purpose of this article is to encourage family therapists to become more interested in family business practice. It does so in three ways: (a) highlighting the number of therapists already involved in family business issues; (b) showing the parallels between family business and family therapy by applying family business research findings to…

Depression is a heterogeneous disorder with lifetime prevalence of "major depressive disorder" estimated to be 16.2%. Although the disorder is common and impairs functioning, it often goes untreated, with less than adequate response even when treated. We review research indicating the likely value of utilizing currently available, well-validated,…

This is the first study to evaluate adding emotionally focused therapy for couples (EFT) to antidepressant medication in the treatment of women with major depressive disorder and comorbid relationship discord. Twenty-four women and their male partners were randomized to 6 months of medication management alone (MM) or MM augmented with EFT (MM +…

Client readiness for change is garnering increased interest both conceptually and methodologically. This article describes the reliability, validity, and utility of a measure of readiness for couple relationship change, Schneider's (2003) Stages of Relationship Change Questionnaire (SRCQ). Based on the Transtheoretical Model of Change, the…

This work evaluated a psycho-educational intervention designed to reduce intimate partner violence (IPV) in low-income situationally violent couples. The primary objective was to evaluate the mechanism through which violence was reduced. It was hypothesized that IPV would be reduced via use of therapeutic skills taught during the intervention…

What is the extent to which marriage/couple and family therapy (M/CFT) journals address transgender issues and how many of them say they are inclusive of transgender persons when they are not? To answer these queries, a content analysis was conducted on articles published in M/CFT literature from 1997 through 2009. Of the 10,739 articles examined…

Partner-assisted emotional disclosure is a couple-based intervention designed to help patients disclose cancer-related concerns to their spouses-partners. We previously found that, compared with an education/support control condition, partner-assisted emotional disclosure led to significant improvements in relationship quality and intimacy for…

Clinicians' own internal resources for understanding relationships--that is, their attachment organizations--have been found to influence the process and outcome of treatment. The current study addressed whether the attachment organizations of novice couple and family therapists were associated with couples' experiences of their therapists,…

In relationships characterized by control, abuse, or violence, many appraisal distortions occur including denial and minimization. However, the nature of the distortion varies depending on the individual's role in the relationship (i.e., abuser or victim). Reducing these distortions is an important component in treatment success and involves…

The current study examined the effectiveness of the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP) with lower-income and racial/ethnic minority (African American and Latino/a) couples. Additionally, we tested whether relationship outcomes varied based on the delivery format (i.e., group format vs. couple format). The sample included 321…

Practitioners who view intimate partner violence as a set of strategies aimed at maintaining positions of power and privilege often face an engagement dilemma when men at their first contact talk of themselves as disempowered by circumstances such as separation, loss of access to children, legal problems, substance abuse issues, and their own…

Interparental conflict is one of the primary risk factors for negative outcomes for children whose parents separate, and it is likely to be high while parents are separating. Results are mixed regarding the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing interparental conflict. This study examined co-parents who were court-ordered to attend a…

A handful of clinical trials have concluded that conjoint couples treatment for intimate partner violence is safe and at least as effective as conventional batterer intervention programs, yet very few researchers have explored couples' perspectives on conjoint treatment. Using qualitative narrative analysis methodology, the researchers conducted…

Measures of head injury, executive functioning, and intelligence were given to a community sample composed of 102 male perpetrators of intimate partner aggression (IPA) and 62 nonaggressive men. A history of head injury and lower mean score on a measure of verbal intelligence were associated with the frequency of male-perpetrated physical IPA as…