ABSTRACT
Couples therapists, no matter their theoretical orientations, usually expect to fortify insession treatment with out-of-session assignments. These assignments are commonly referred to as “homework” (Primakoff, Epstein, & Covi, 1986; Schultheis, O’Hanlon, & O’Hanlon, 1999). In the field of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), homework assignments have become the hallmark of treatment and are considered a critical component of change with such disorders as anxiety and depression as well as with couples and family problems (Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979; Dattilio & Epstein, 2003; Dattilio & Padesky, 1990). In the latest results of the Delphi Poll, which is conducted every 10 years, therapist didactic direction, such as homework assignments, was predicted to significantly increase in the next decade (Norcross, Hedges, & Prochaska, 2002).
