Couple therapy, family therapy and systemic interventions for adult‐focused problems: the current evidence base

Abstract

This paper updates previous similar reviews published in JFT in 2000, 2009 and 2014. It presents evidence from meta‐analyses, systematic literature reviews and controlled trials for the effectiveness of couple therapy, family therapy, and systemic interventions for adults with a range or relationship and mental health problems. The evidence supports the effectiveness of systemic interventions, either alone or as part of multimodal programmes, for relationship distress, psychosexual problems, intimate partner violence, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, alcohol problems, psychosis and adjustment to chronic physical illness.

Feasibility of the Hand in Hand Relationship Intervention for Stroke Survivor–Caregiver Dyads: A Randomized Trial

“…Interventionist self-evaluation data indicated that, going forward, interventionist training should continue to emphasize the importance of preparing carefully for each session (i.e., based upon notes from the previous session) and of strongly suggesting “homework” for dyads to do in between sessions in order to keep them engaged in the program. It also may be valuable to infuse existing interventionist training with strategies from the communication-based therapies literature (Berry et al, 2017; Carr, 2019) in order to help dyads stay focused on a single issue at once and to help them resolve relationship issues once they have been surfaced by the program procedures.…”

Family therapy and systemic interventions for child‐focused problems: the current evidence base

“…Fourth, most evidence‐based systemic interventions have been developed within the cognitive behavioural, structural and strategic family therapy traditions. In the final section of a companion paper the implications of these findings will be discussed (Carr, ).…”

“…This paper summarizes the evidence base for systemic practice with child‐focused problems, and updates previous reviews (Carr, ). It is also a companion paper to a research review on systemic interventions for adult‐focused problems (Carr, ). A broad definition of systemic practice has been taken in this paper.…”

Die soziale Dimension der Depression: Wenn auch die Beziehungen leiden

“…Die bisherige Literatur weist darauf hin, dass viele Erkrankungen ebenso wirksam im paar-wie im einzeltherapeutischen Setting behandelt werden können [11]. Grundsätzlich kann man 2 Formen unterscheiden: ▪ Die Bezugsperson wird zur Unterstützung eingeladen, um den Alltagstransfer zu fördern und die Rückfallwahrscheinlichkeit zu verringern, indem aufrechterhaltende Interaktionen adressiert werden.…”