Relationship-undermining statements by psychotherapists with clients who present with marital or couple problems

  • Doherty, W. J., & Harris, S. M. (2022). Relationship-undermining statements by psychotherapists with clients who present with marital or couple problems. Family Process, 61(3), 1195-1207. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12774
  • This study examined the prevalence of 6 relationship-undermining statements (e.g., partner could not change, marriage beyond repair) made by therapists and whether these statements were linked with civilian clients’ relationship outcomes (e.g., relationship quality, decision to divorce or separate). 101 civilian clients who had attended couples therapy with their partner filled out an online questionnaire, in which over half of them indicated that they had received undermining statements related to their relationship problems from their therapists. Further, these statements were linked with lower relationship quality and worse relationship outcomes (e.g., divorce or separation) as reported by clients.

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Research summaries convey terminology used by the scientists who authored the original research article; some terminology may not align with the federal government's mandated language for certain constructs.

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