Psychology Colloquium with Dr. Katherine Péloquin-FR and SJ

Event Details:

Dr. Katherine Péloquin from Université de Montréal will be with us to deliver a colloquium talk entitled "Is couple therapy in routine practice effective in reducing relationship distress? True stories (and challenges) from an ongoing effectiveness study in Québec." All are welcome and encouraged to attend!

Is couple therapy in routine practice effective in reducing relationship distress? True stories (and challenges) from an ongoing effectiveness study in Québec.

Meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials show that couple therapy produces large improvements in relationship distress. Studies that have examined the effectiveness of couple therapy in natural settings are scarce and yield more modest results, with high rates of premature termination. This gap between research efficacy and practice effectiveness may be due to the fact that efficacy studies are conducted in ideal conditions, including outstanding institutional support, services offered freely as part of a research study, and strict inclusion criteria and exclusion of more dysfunctional couples. Effectiveness studies also present several important methodological limitations that could explain the smaller effect sizes—in contrast to efficacy studies, effectiveness studies often do not differentiate nor report relationship outcomes as per therapy mandate (i.e., improve the relationship versus address relational ambivalence and separation), fail to use comprehensive standardized assessments, and do not monitor therapy progress. It is therefore necessary to conduct more research assessing the effectiveness of couple therapy in routine practice, especially since couple therapy services are most often offered in private practice. This presentation will report on an ongoing effectiveness study conducted in Québec. I will discuss the ethical and practical challenges of conducting this research, present some results regarding the effectiveness of couple therapy in routine practice, and address the clinical implications of the results.

Building: Keirstead Hall

Room Number: 105