ABSTRACT
The use of empirically devised instruments and procedures to make pre-treatment assessments, monitor clinical progress, evaluate treatment outcomes, and conduct follow-up investigations is a sine qua non for evidence-based interventions (Bagarozzi, 1989; L’Abate and Bagarozzi, 1992). Unfortunately, such practices are rarely implemented outside academic settings and training institutions. Although the use of valid and reliable treatment tools and procedures is routine for most behaviorally oriented clinicians, it is less common for many clinicians following contemporary models of marital therapy (Gurman, 2008). For the most part, private practitioners and therapists who work in public agencies rarely have the time or the luxury to engage in such thorough and systematic endeavors. One way to encourage the increased use of assessment procedures by private practitioners and agency personnel is to provide them with assessment tools that are time sensitive and pragmatic. Taking this into consideration, we have decided to omit from our revision of this chapter a number of previously reviewed instruments that we consider to be too lengthy and time consuming for everyday use. The measures we have omitted are the Conflict Tactics Scales (Straus, 1979); the Marital Satisfaction Inventory (Snyder, 1979, 1981, 1997); ENRICH (Olson, Fournier, & Druckman, 1982); PREPARE, PREPARE-MC, PREPARE-CC, and MATE (Olson, 2002); and the Adult Attachment Interview (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1996). In their place, we have chosen to include some more recently developed instruments that are brief, concise, valid, and pragmatic measures that can be used in most clinical settings. We begin with a recapitulation of seven of the instruments that were originally cataloged. Next, a strategy for utilizing couples assessment instruments in clinical practice is outlined. Finally, a case example illustrates the use of this strategy with a couple.
