Make a Gift, Make a Difference.
Please donate through our symbolic Gift Catalog.
I WANT TO HELP!

Couples Therapy Outcome Study
​written by Cathy Hill and Sarah Knapp
​
As of November, 2024 we have five couples enrolled. As more practitioners graduate from the training program we hope for higher enrollment numbers. We hope to have enough data to publish in mid 2026.

An efficacy study is the gold standard in evidence based research, involving strict selection processes, a comparison group, and comparability in treatment times. Because major funding is required for an efficacy study, we have opted for a combination of an efficacy study and an effectiveness study (which involves pre and post measurements of what is referred to as ‘treatment as usual’). Clients do not receive their therapy for free, but do receive payment for completing questionnaires. We ask therapists to screen for major preconditions, but otherwise put no controls on who the clients are. For comparison we will use published results of both published efficacy and effectiveness studies.  

Therapy outcome studies are notorious for attrition (with rates often around 50%) so we expect it will take a couple of years to gather data from pre and post therapy as well as follow up. It is our hope to have enough pre and post therapy data to publish in mid 2026, but this depends on the rate of therapist enrollment. Currently we are struggling to convince therapists to join the study, and may find that they, like the clients, may need financial incentive.

In order to be considered an evidence based treatment RLT needs to conduct at least two therapy outcome studies.  These studies need to demonstrate that there is a significant improvement in the behaviors or other variables being targeted by the treatment, and that the improvement is a result of the intervention. The major variable generally targeted in couples therapy is relationship satisfaction, which can be measured in a number of ways.  We also expect changes in self and other compassion, in attachment behaviors, and in emotion regulation.   
​
This area of research responds directly to the American Psychological Association’s (APA) call for evidence-based practice in psychology (EBPP), defined as “the integration of the best available research with clinical expertise in the context of patient characteristics, culture, and preferences.” Further, in order for clinical psychology training programs to be approved by the APA, they must incorporate empirically supported treatments (ESTs) into their courses and internships, defined as “clearly specified psychological treatments shown to be efficacious in controlled research with a delineated population” (Chambless & Hollon, 1998, p. 7). Currently the APA identifies two ESTs for distressed couples: Behavioral Couples Therapy for Alcohol Use Disorders and Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT). 

To maximize results, this project will require ongoing supervision of therapists.  In addition, for validity purposes, we will require therapists to provide recorded samples of their work so that we can check for adherence to RLT protocols.  This will require paid time on the part of the few senior RLT therapists on the faculty. 
​
As this is the first couple therapy outcome study we know of to be conducted with a hybrid of in-person and on-line treatment, with therapists in many different locations, and with all questionnaires provided on-line, there are a number of variables that have no precedent in the literature at this time.  Thus we anticipate that we may need to do some course-corrections at various points, but hope to have enough data for preliminary analysis by the end of 2025.

Respectful relationships have the power to change our world.

Help us build a world that relates respectfully and compassionately with one another.
Join our mailing list
​
Copyright ​© 2024 RelationalLifeFoundation. All rights reserved.
Made with Love

​Privacy policy / messaging terms and conditions