Date of Award:

5-2014

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Human Development and Family Studies

Department name when degree awarded

Family, Consumer, and Human Development

Committee Chair(s)

Kay Bradford

Committee

Kay Bradford

Committee

Scot Allgood

Committee

Lisa Boyce

Committee

David Bush

Committee

Linda Skogrand

Abstract

Many couples struggle with their relationship, but resist seeking professional assistance due to concerns about time commitment, financial expense, and/or fear of stigma associated with treatment. To address these concerns the relationship checkup has been developed. Though there has been limited research of this format, there is still much to be explored. This study presents the findings from semi-structured interviews of ten couples who participated in a form of this intervention and their corresponding clinicians. Each interview was analyzed for commonalities among the responses and distilled into two sets of themes: the couples' and the clinicians'. Themes for the couples include: couple motivation, therapeutic environment, internal and external change, and program response. The themes that emerged for the clinicians include: couple characteristics, couple motivation, therapeutic relationship, and therapeutic change. While comparing and contrasting themes from these two groups considerable agreement was found. Additionally, these themes suggest success in facilitating relationship change, attracting couples in various states of distress, allowing couples to overcome the typical obstacles to treatment, and fostering a more positive attitude towards future treatment. Implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed.

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