What does the research tell us about couple and family therapies?

This article overviews for the practicing clinician the research assessing couple and family therapies. Research on couple and family therapies has established the overall efficacy of these forms of intervention as a general grouping, their value both as treatments and parts of treatments in ameliorating a number of disorders and difficulties, and the efficacy of a number of specific therapies aimed at specific difficulties. However, there remain several prominent couple and family therapies that have yet to be assessed through research, and the research has only begun to be able to inform specific therapist decision making. Findings from research assessing family process are cited that can prove useful to therapists.