This invited paper is a review of the significance of couple relationships to the practice of all therapists. The article begins with a summary of the evidence on the centrality of committed couple relationships to the lives and wellbeing of adults, and the association of the quality of the parents’ couple relationship on the wellbeing of children. We argue that the well-established reciprocal association between individual problems and couple relationship problems means that all therapists need to pay attention to how a couple relationship might be influencing a client's functioning, even if the relationship is not the presenting problem. There is an outline the evolution of current approaches to behavioural couple therapy, and the current state of the art and science of couple therapy. We present an analysis of the evidence for couple therapy as a treatment for relationship distress, as well as couple-based treatments for individual problems. This is followed by a description of the distinctive challenges in working with couples and how to address those challenges, and recommendations about how to address the needs of diverse couple relationships. Finally, we propose some core therapist competencies needed to work effectively with couples.

中文翻译：

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每个治疗师都需要了解夫妻治疗

这篇特邀论文回顾了夫妻关系对所有治疗师实践的重要性。文章首先概述了承诺的夫妻关系对成年人的生活和福祉的重要性，以及父母夫妻关系的质量与孩子的福祉之间的关系。我们认为，个人问题和夫妻关系问题之间已经确立的相互关联意味着所有治疗师都需要关注夫妻关系如何影响来访者的功能，即使这种关系不是目前的问题。概述了当前行为夫妻治疗方法的演变，以及夫妻治疗的最新技术和科学水平。我们对夫妻治疗作为治疗关系困扰的证据以及基于夫妻的个体问题治疗的证据进行了分析。随后描述了与夫妻合作的独特挑战以及如何应对这些挑战，并就如何应对不同夫妻关系的需求提出了建议。最后，我们提出了一些与夫妻有效合作所需的核心治疗师能力。