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Brief Behavioural Couples Therapy: A Preliminary Evaluation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2009

W. Kim Halford
Affiliation:
Griffith University, Australia
Sue Osgarby
Affiliation:
Griffith University, Australia
Adrian Kelly
Affiliation:
University of Queensland, Australia

Extract

The marital satisfaction of sixteen maritally distressed couples who received three sessions of Brief Behavioural Couples Therapy (BBCT), and 24 couples who received 12 to 15 sessions of Traditional Behavioural Couples Therapy (TBCT), were compared before and after treatment in a quasi-experimental design. A 2 way ANOVA of treatment (BBCT versus TBCT) by time (pre- and post-treatment) showed both conditions produced significant increases in marital satisfaction, but there were no significant differences between the effects of the two treatments. The results need replication within a true experimental evaluation, but suggest that brief behavioural couples therapy may be a viable treatment option for some distressed couples.

Type
Clinical Section
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 1996

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