Assessment in Couple Therapy

This innovative text offers a simple but comprehensive framework for couple assessment that integrates research and information on couples from a wide range of models.
Using the 7 Cs as a basis for guiding assessment, chapters move through key areas of couple functioning including communication, conflict resolution, culture, commitment, caring and sex, contract, and character. An additional chapter on children also offers insights into assessment of couples who parent. Offering a broad and accessible framework that can be applied to a variety of theoretical perspectives, the book highlights how the 7 Cs can be used to inform both assessment and treatment of couples. Numerous case examples are interwoven throughout the text to demonstrate how therapists may utilize this approach to work with a diverse client base.
Written in an accessible style, Assessment in Couple Therapy is an essential tool for students of marriage and family therapy and beginning therapists, as well as seasoned mental health professionals working with couples in a range of settings.

Lee Williams, PhD, is a professor of marital and family therapy at the University of San Diego, where he has taught since 1993. He is a licenced marriage and family therapist and clinical fellow at AAMFT (American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy).

1. Introduction: Assessing Couples Using the 7 C's 2. Getting Started - Structuring Assessment 3. Communication 4. Conflict Resolution 5. Culture 6. Commitment 7. Caring 8. Assessing a Couple's Sexual Relationship 9. Contract 10. Character 11. Children: An Eighth C? 12. Moving Beyond the Initial Assessment