The outcomes of couple and family therapy: Findings, conclusions, and recommendations

Building on a Special Issue of the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy that was devoted exclusively to assessing the state of empirical knowledge about the efficacy and effectiveness of Couple and Family Therapy (CFT), this article presents a set of conclusions about the state of scientific knowledge about the outcomes of CFT. The primary conclusion is that there is substantial evidence to support the hypothesis that CFT is effective in general, and that it may even be superior to alternative treatments for certain major problems and disorders. Certain methodological and conceptual problems with this body of research are addressed and recommendations for improving CFT research are presented.