This theoretical essay outlines the hermeneutic of Divine relationship, a theological lens through which Christians can develop a deeper appreciation for God's inherently relational nature and desire to be in relationship with all of humanity. In addition to the nature of God, this hermeneutic highlights the nature of human persons, sin and…

This brief report responds to the relative dearth of information available about MFT doctoral dissertations. A preliminary analysis of one COAMFTE [Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education] program is detailed. Suggestions for future action are offered. (Contains 1 table.)

Family businesses (FBs) are a significant population in the world and therefore part of most practicing marriage and family therapists (MFTs) clientele; however, little is mentioned about FBs in the training of MFTs. This article offers some guidance to practicing MFTs who service this population, as well as MFTs who wish to expand their practice…

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,…

The adverse effects of marital dissolution and dissatisfaction point to a need for interventions, such as premarital preparation, to improve marital quality. Although several studies support the potential for premarital preparation to improve couples' marital satisfaction and interpersonal skills, results from other studies are mixed. Moreover,…

Previous literature on the assessment of multicultural counseling competence has been concerned only with counselors' abilities when working with individual clients. We expanded this line of research by investigating trainees' multicultural case conceptualization ability in the context of working with couples. Despite the fact that trainees…

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…

Using typologies outlined by Gottman and Fitzpatrick as well as institutional and companionate models of marriage, the authors conducted a latent class analysis of marital conflict trajectories using 20 years of data from the Marital Instability Over the Life Course study. Respondents were in one of three groups: high, medium (around the mean), or…

This article reviews the research on couple therapy over the last decade. The research shows that couple therapy positively impacts 70% of couples receiving treatment. The effectiveness rates of couple therapy are comparable to the effectiveness rates of individual therapies and vastly superior to control groups not receiving treatment. The…

Past research on Black clients' utilization of therapy focused on the barriers that prevent Black clients from attending therapy and the reasons for these barriers. However, few studies have been conducted that focus on how Black clients attending therapy actually experience these barriers. This study utilized both Likert and open-ended questions…

The following qualitative study examined the impact of counselor training on the experience and process of four counseling students' couple relationships. Students were selected from a Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) accredited program to take part in three rounds of interviews and member-check…

Objective: This report describes the reliability and validity of the Evidence-Based Practice Process Assessment Scale (EBPPAS)--Short Version, validated with three disciplines (Social Work, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFTs), and Psychologists), that assesses practitioners' perceived familiarity with, attitudes about, and…

Previous studies (J. S. Carroll & W. J. Doherty, 2003) have asserted that premarital education programs have a positive effect on program participants. Using meta-analytic methods of current best practices to look across the entire body of published and unpublished evaluation research on premarital education, we found a more complex pattern of…

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between the alliance and outcome in couple therapy and examine whether the alliance predicted outcomes over and above early change. The authors also investigated partner influence and gender and sought to identify couple alliance patterns that predicted couple outcomes. Method:…

We extend research on black-white gaps in the subjective quality of life by exploring recent General Social Survey data, focusing attention on Latinos, and probing the value of partial proportional odds models for ordinal quality-of-life measures. Results indicate a declining but discernable black-white gap for four measures--marital happiness,…