ReviewFamily process2022
Couple therapy in the 2020s: Current status and emerging developments.
Review in Family process, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Couples' therapies can improve clinical outcomes of patients with post-traumatic stress disorder: meta-analysis of eighteen clinical studies.BMC psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Attachment Behavior Change Following Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy: A Randomized Controlled Trial With Spanish-Speaking Couples.Journal of marital and family therapy · 2026Trial
- The effect of emotionally focused couple therapy (EFCT) on shame and intimacy in couples: a randomized controlled trial (RCT).BMC psychology · 2025Trial
- Moral dilemma of family caregivers of urostomy patients: a qualitative study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Article
- I Feel You … or Do I? An Investigation of Therapist Presence and Partner Effects Via Physiological Synchrony in Couple Therapy.Journal of marital and family therapy · 2026Article
- Emotion Regulation and Relationship Satisfaction in Couple Therapy: What Happens Across Sessions?Family process · 2026Article
- Article
- Feeling loved versus being loving: perceived partner behavior predicts relationship satisfaction.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- How participants engage with emotion-focused training for couple identity (EFT-CIDE), a 14-day self-guided mobile app intervention: a framework analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Approaches to ketamine-assisted couple therapy.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Love on Empty: The Development and Validation of a Comprehensive Scale to Measure Burnout in Modern Relationships.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- A Machine Learning Approach for Investigating Variable Importance in Relationship and Sexual Satisfaction: The Role of Interpersonal Mindfulness and Psychological Safety.Journal of marital and family therapy · 2025Article
- A research-driven flowchart to approach change in couples.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- A novel framework for ketamine-assisted couple therapy.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Review
- Emotion Regulation in Couples Across Adulthood.Annual review of developmental psychology · 2023Article
- Couple therapy in the 2020s: Current status and emerging developments.Family process · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This paper provides a critical analysis and synthesis of the current status and emerging developments in contemporary couple therapy. Its narrative centers on the evolution of couple therapy into a prominent intervention modality and coherent body of practice. The review begins with the consideration of the field's strong empirical underpinnings derived from research on couple therapy and basic relational science. Couple therapy comprises the widely accepted method for reducing relationship distress and enhancing relationship quality. Moreover, both as a stand-alone intervention and in conjunction with other treatment formats, couple-based interventions have garnered considerable empirical support for their effectiveness in addressing a broad spectrum of specific relational dysfunctions as well as individual emotional and physical health problems. We highlight the convergence of methods through common factors, shared strategies, and remarkably similar arrangements across approaches. Our review also points to key differences among approaches, the importance of recognizing respective strengths and limitations linked to these differences, and building on differences across models when selecting and tailoring interventions for a given couple. The discussion concludes with a consideration of recent trends in the field including the impact of telehealth and related digital technologies, the expansion of specific treatments for specific problems and diverse populations, the interface of couple therapy with relationship education, and enduring challenges as well as new opportunities addressing broader systemic and global dynamics.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.