Description and First Steps Toward the Empirical Validation of the Plan Formulation Method for Couples

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to empirically assess the reliability of the plan formulation method for couples, a procedure for formulating the case, planning, and monitoring the couple therapies according to control-mastery theory. We hypothesized that when couples are looking for couple therapy, they have anunconscious couple ’s plan for the therapy, which includes thecouple ’s goals; thepathogenic beliefs that the partners want to disprove; thetraumas from which these beliefs originated and that the partners want to master; thevicious relational circles that make the couple suffer and that the couple wants to break; thevirtuous relational circles that are expressions of the couple ’s resources and that the couple wants to fuel; and therelational insights that may help the couple get better. Our study involved 15 couples treated by four experienced therapists. Four raters independently formulated each couple ’s plan based on the first three sessions following a standard procedure, and we calculated the intraclass correlation for pooled judges’ ratings. For a subsample of three couples—who before and after treatment had completed the dyadic adjustment scale (DAS) and the outcome questionnaire-45.2 (OQ-45.2)—the compatibility of the therapists’ interventions with the couples’ and partners’ plans was assessed. The relationship between the ratings of compatibility, DAS and OQ-45.2, was assessed. The results showed excellent interjudge reliability for each...
Source: Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research