Effectiveness of the 'Hold me Tight' Relationship Enhancement Program in a Self-referred and a Clinician-referred Sample: An Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy-Based Approach

Abstract

While evidence-based couple therapies are available, only a minority of troubled couples seek help and they often do this too late. To reach more couples earlier, the couple relationship education (CRE) group program "Hold me Tight" (HmT) based on Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT) was developed. This study is the first to examine the effectiveness of HmT. Using a three-wave (waiting period, treatment, and follow-up) within-subject design, HmT was delivered to 79 self-referred couples and 50 clinician-referred couples. We applied a comprehensive outcome measure battery. Our main findings were that (1) self-referred couples significantly improved during HmT on all measures, that is relationship satisfaction, security of partner-bond, forgiveness, daily coordination, maintenance behavior, and psychological complaints, with a moderate-to-large mean effect size (d = .63), which was maintained (d = .57) during the 3.5 month follow-up; (2) in clinician-referred couples, who were vulnerable in terms of insecure attachment status and psychopathology, the improvement during HmT was moderate (d = .42), but this was reduced during the 3.5-month follow-up to a small effect (d = .22); (3) emotional functioning (typical HmT target) as well as behavioral functioning (typical Behavioral Couples Therapy-based CRE target) improved during HmT; and (4) individual psychological complaints, although not specifically targeted, were reduced during HmT. These findings suggest that HmT is a promising intervention for enhancement of relationship functioning. Clinical implications are discussed.