Biomaterial Database

Individual marital therapy: a critical reappraisal. 1986

R A Wells, and V J Giannetti

The belief that individual marital therapy (IMT) is an ineffective form of treatment for marriage problems and markedly inferior to the conjoint approaches has become almost an article of faith in family therapy circles. This position was originally advanced in the influential reviews of the research literature conducted by Gurman and Kniskern, and their conclusions have been cited in numerous other articles. This paper re-reviews the research studies purportedly supporting this conclusion and finds almost all of them to be invalidated by gross flaws in design and implementation. It is argued that from the highly inadequate evidence available, no conclusions can be reached concerning either the absolute or relative effectiveness of IMT.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007398	Interpersonal Relations	The reciprocal interaction of two or more persons.	Social Relationships,Husband-Wife Communication,Partner Communication,Communication, Husband-Wife,Communication, Partner,Husband Wife Communication,Husband-Wife Communications,Interpersonal Relation,Partner Communications,Relation, Interpersonal,Relationship, Social,Social Relationship
D008388	Marital Therapy	A form of psychotherapy involving both spouses and directed to improving the marital relationship.	Marriage Therapy,Therapy, Marital,Therapy, Marriage,Marital Therapies,Marriage Therapies,Therapies, Marital,Therapies, Marriage
D011369	Professional-Patient Relations	Interactions between health personnel and patients.	Contacting Clients,Pharmacist-Patient Relations,Professional Patient Relationship,Client, Contacting,Clients, Contacting,Contacting Client,Pharmacist Patient Relations,Pharmacist-Patient Relation,Professional Patient Relations,Professional Patient Relationships,Professional-Patient Relation,Relation, Pharmacist-Patient,Relation, Professional-Patient,Relations, Pharmacist-Patient,Relations, Professional-Patient,Relationship, Professional Patient,Relationships, Professional Patient
D011379	Prognosis	A prediction of the probable outcome of a disease based on a individual's condition and the usual course of the disease as seen in similar situations.	Prognostic Factor,Prognostic Factors,Factor, Prognostic,Factors, Prognostic,Prognoses
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000223	Adaptation, Psychological	A state of harmony between internal needs and external demands and the processes used in achieving this condition. (From APA Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 8th ed).	Behavior, Adaptive,Healthy Adaptation,Positive Adaptation,Psychological Recovery,Adaptation, Psychologic,Adjustment,Psychological Adaptation,Adaptation, Healthy,Adaptation, Positive,Adaptive Behavior,Adaptive Behaviors,Healthy Adaptations,Positive Adaptations,Psychologic Adaptation,Psychological Recoveries,Recovery, Psychological