Conjoint Couple and Family Therapy

Introduction

Conjoint couple and family therapy refers to couples and families treatment wherein the clinician sees two or more family members in the same session simultaneously. Conjoint treatment differs from collaborative approaches (i.e., different therapists who collaborate on the treatment see individual family members separately) or concomitant approaches (i.e., one therapist sees members of the families separately in individual sessions). All three approaches may be employed in the same case depending on the presenting problem or treatment process.

Prominent Associated Figures

In 1959, Donald Jackson first used the term “conjoint family therapy” and Virginia Satir produced the first conjoint family therapy book in 1964 (Olson 1970).

Theoretical Framework

Therapists use a conjoint approach when they want to focus on the relationship between a couple or among family members. From a relational perspective, the therapist theorizes the family or couple as a system in which...