Psychotherapeutic processes associated with couple therapy discontinuance: An observational analysis using the rapid marital interaction coding system

Abstract

Premature discontinuation presents challenges to couple clients and therapists alike. Although couple therapy has demonstrated efficacy and effectiveness, little is known about the mechanisms that contribute to couple therapy completion. This study presents the results of an observational inquiry into the psychotherapeutic processes associated with treatment discontinuance using clinical data. Using observational coding of the Rapid Marital Interaction Coding System (RMICS) researchers sought to examine differences in in‐session interactions between couple members in a matched sample of therapy continuers and discontinuers. Results indicate that specifically for female partners, the absence of positive interactions is linked to therapy discontinuation. Clinical implications of these findings are presented and discussed.

Therapists' confidence in their theory of change and outcomes

“…Along with alliance, how clients terminate treatment is also important to attend to. Premature termination or treatment dropout in couple therapy is typically high (40%–60%; D'Aniello et al, 2021 ). It seems obvious that therapeutic alliance would be associated with treatment dropout.…”

Parejas sus problemáticas y ámbitos de intervención desde la clínica y la psicoterapia

“…La psicoterapia de pareja cuenta con evidencia científica de su efectividad Carr, (2018;D'Aniello, (2021), según Kuster et al (2015) en una revisión exhaustiva sobre los cambios que atraviesa la pareja, es importante considerar la transformación de los constructos sociales en la intervención ISSN en línea: 2789-3855, agosto, 2023, Volumen IV, Número 2 p 5824.…”