Is It Safe Enough? An IPA Study of How Couple Therapists Make Sense of Their Decision to Either Stop or Continue with Couple Therapy When Violence Becomes the Issue

Abstract

Background: Couple therapists will encounter couple violence in their practice at some point. In this context, one of the main questions they must address is whether to continue with conjoint sessions. This study explores how couple therapists make sense of their decision whether or not to continue with conjoint sessions when violence has become an issue. Methods: This qualitative study used four semi-structured focus groups and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to analyse the data from the twelve experienced couple therapist participants. Results: Our IPA analysis led to three main group experiential themes across the focus groups: (1) Is it safe enough? (2) Do we have a joint and regenerative project? (3) What are three key sources for sense making? Conclusion: Partner violence challenges the realm of couple therapy. This article explored how the couple therapists orient themselves and grapple with decision making when violence becomes an issue. The article offers unique insights regarding what the therapists orient themselves towards and how they try to form an impression of whether to continue conjoint sessions. We outline immediate clinical implications and propose measures for building individual and organisational capacity regarding “clinical sense making”. Suggestions for further research are also addressed.