Common Factors in Couple and Family Therapy

Douglas H. Sprenkle, PhD, until his death in 2018, was Professor Emeritus at Purdue University, where he was developer and former Director of the Doctoral Program in Marriage and Family Therapy Dr. Sprenkle was past Editor of the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy and the author or editor of over 130 scholarly articles and books. He received the Osborne Award from the National Council on Family Relations, which is given biannually for outstanding teaching, and the Outstanding Contribution to Marriage and Family Therapy Award, the Cumulative Career Contribution to Marriage and Family Therapy Research Award, and the Training Award from the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. Dr. Sprenkle also won the Award for Significant Contribution to Family Therapy Theory and Practice from the American Family Therapy Academy. Sean D. Davis, PhD, LMFT, is Distinguished Professor in the Couple and Family Therapy Program at Alliant International University’s campus in Sacramento, California, as well as an approved supervisor and clinical member of American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT). Dr. Davis serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. His research, clinical, and teaching interests focus on common factors and bridging the scientist-practitioner gap in marriage and family therapy. His dissertation on common factors won the AAMFT Graduate Student Research Award and the AAMFT Dissertation Award. Dr. Davis has published several journal articles and books and maintains a private practice. Jay L. Lebow, PhD, is Clinical Professor of Psychology at the Family Institute at Northwestern University. He has conducted clinical practice, supervision, and research on couple and family therapy for over 30 years. He is board certified in family psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology and is an approved supervisor of AAMFT. Dr. Lebow is the author of numerous publications on the interface of research and practice and the practice of integrative couple and family therapy. He is a past president of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association and is involved in the Family Institute’s Psychotherapy Change Project. Dr. Lebow is the current editor of Family Process.

1. What Is Responsible for Therapeutic Change?: Two Paradigms

2. A Brief History of Common Factors

3. Common Factors Unique to Couple and Family Therapy

4. The Big-Picture View of Common Factors

5. A Moderate View of Common Factors

6. Getting Clients Fired Up for a Change: Matching Therapist Behavior with Client Motivation

7. A Strong Therapeutic Alliance

8. Models: All Roads Lead to Rome

9. A Meta-Model of Change in Couple Therapy

10. The Case against Common Factors

11. Common-Factors Training and Supervision

12. Implications for Clinicians and Researchers

Appendix A: Moderate Common-Factors Supervision Checklist

Appendix B: Instruments from Other Authors Related to Common Factors