As described in Chapter 4, there are four aspects of affect that the marital therapist needs to assess in order to understand the nature of a couple’s problematic interactions and to plan interventions for reducing the couple’s distress. These include: (a) the amount and intensity of positive and negative emotions experienced by each partner; (b) the degree to which the spouses are aware of their emotions, can differentiate various emotions, and can identify cognitive and behavioral events that elicit their emotional experiences; (c) inadequate and dysfunctional expression of emotion; and (d) the degree to which particular affective states (e.g., anger, depression, anxiety) interfere with the couple’s adaptive functioning. This chapter describes strategies and procedures for assessing each of these four aspects of affect in marital and similar intimate relationships.