Some Prospects for Couples Therapy

This paper highlights two specific areas as future prospects for couples therapists. The development of couples therapy has primarily focussed on refining conceptual models for formulating and intervening with couples and on developing adequate methods of assessment. As a result, some areas have been neglected, specifically (i) an appreciation of the dyadic needs of psychiatric patients, handicapped persons and the elderly and (ii) some of the philosophical issues involved in couples therapy.