Health Sciences

Evaluation of Couple Counselling

Researchers:Professor Margot Schofield, Department of Counselling and Psychological Health, and
Dr Andrew Bickerdike, Manager, Relationships Australia Victoria (RAV).

Research Partners: Relationships Australia Victoria

Funding: ARC Linkage Project

Summary

The couple relationship forms the fundamental stablising unit in society with nearly 5 million couples living together in Australia in 2003. However, the incidence of relationship breakdown and divorce is increasing, and negative effects on the health and well-being of partners and their children have been well demonstrated. A new Australian government policy in 2004 focuses on prevention, early intervention and mediation to strengthen relationships and counter this trend. In response to this priority, this study seeks to map profiles of couples seeking relationship services, identify needs, and evaluate outcomes of current relationship services.
There are two primary objectives. Firstly, we aim to map the profiles and needs of clients seeking relationship counselling and relationship enhancement services offered by Australia's largest provider of such services. This will provide an evidence base for developing and refining programs, and for evaluating client and service outcomes. Secondly, we propose to undertake a quasi-experimental effectiveness evaluation of two relationship interventions: couple counselling and relationship enhancement programs, using both group and single case longitudinal designs among a naturalistic sample of clients presenting for agency-based relationship services. Key questions are:

1. What are the relationship profiles and needs of couples seeking couple counselling and relationship enhancement services, and how do the two groups differ?

2. To what extent do couple counselling and relationship enhancement programs lead to short-term and sustained improvements over 3 and 12 months post-counselling?

3. What therapist, client/couple and therapy factors predict relationship improvement and/or mediate the relationship between counselling and couple outcomes?

There may be opportunities for higher degree research projects to be embedded within this project.

 

Status of the project: Current

Research Outputs to date:

Conference Presentations

 

Publications

 

Unpublished Reports

 

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