Effects of a Communication Training Component Added to an Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy

In this study a 4‐session communication skills training component was added to an 8‐session Emotionally Focused couples therapy package. This treatment (EFT + CT) was compared to 12 sessions of Emotionally Focused therapy (EFT) to investigate whether the communication training component enhanced the effectiveness of EFT, and both treatments were compared to a wait‐list control. Both treatments achieved superior gains at posttest compared to the control group on measures of marital adjustment and target complaint improvement (but not on intimacy and passionate love), with EFT + CT being superior on communication. The only differential treatment effect was EFT's superiority on target complaints at follow‐up.