Marriage Encounter Weekends: Couples Who Win and Couples Who Lose

Abstract

This study examined interview and essay data for 50 married couples who had the most positive or most negative reactions in a larger sample of participants in Marriage Encounter weekends. We were interested in describing the experiences of couples who years later believed they were strongly helped by the program or who believed their marriages deteriorated because of the program. Content analysis of interview transcripts and written essays indicated that 7 couples experienced highly positive changes apparently related to Marriage Encounter, and that 9 couples experienced significant negative changes apparently related to Marriage Encounter. The other 34 couples were equally divided between “somewhat positives” and “neutrals.” Retrospective analysis of the condition of marriages prior to the Marriage Encounter weekend revealed that both the highly positives and the negatives were likely to report grave marital distress prior to the weekend. Based on the findings reported here, the authors suggest that distressed couples who attend Marriage Encounter weekends are susceptible to serious further deterioration. The paper concludes with recommendations for clinicians in treating Marriage Encounter casualties, and for the Marriage Encounter organization in screening participants and modifying the program to diminish the likelihood of program‐induced deterioration.

Assessing Change with Preventive Interventions: The Reliable Change Index

“…This seems to support the findings of Doherty et al (1986) that preventive interventions can have both positive and negative effects. Analyses of group means simply focus on whether average differences between groups exist; Jacobson's procedure can provide data about the direction and intensity of change within a group.…”

Does hypnosis pose special risks for negative effects? A master class commentary

“…For example, Smith and his associates' (1980) metaanalysis of psychotherapy effectiveness found that about 9% of the effect-size measures were negative. Doherty, Lester, and Leigh (1986) reported that of the couples who were strongly affected by a "marital encounter" weekend, 50% were helped and 5096 were negatively affectecLIntheirrearralySisof datafromtheNIMHCollaborativeDepression Study, Ogles, Lambert, and Sawyer (1995) found that 13% of clients who received cognitive behavioral therapy were judged to have a "reliable negative" treatment outcome.…”

Enriching newlyweds: An evaluation of three enrichment programs

“…Gurman and Kniskern (1977) raise questions about the long-term effectiveness of enrichment programs, suggesting that change may be illusory. Doherty and colleagues (Doherty & Walker, 1982;Doherty et al, 1986;Lester & Doherty, 1983), in a series of studies evaluating Marriage Encounter, raise concerns over deterioration effects, which are generally not measured in research on marriage enrichment.…”