Each year I mentor a small group of therapists to help them set goals for their business and clinical skills. I often ask them to assess themselves by being brutally honest about their ability on a variety of criteria that I believe make for strength and effectiveness as a couples therapist. I am including some of these here so you too can assess yourself.

Couples Therapist Self­-Assessment

First, read the following statements and respond with a simple yes or no. Later, come back and use a 1­-7 on a continuum from very strong to very weak.

Early Sessions with Couples:

__ I have a plan when I talk to potential clients on the telephone.

__I intervene on the phone in a way that gets partners thinking in new and different ways even before their first session.

__I get a beginning sense of the couple’s developmental stage on the telephone.

__I am able to assess the couple's developmental stage in the first or second session.

__I have a basic set of questions I use in my first sessions.

__I develop interventions based on the couple’s developmental stage.

__I take time to educate my clients about what will be required of them in couples therapy.

__I carefully work towards each partner setting accountable self-­motivated goals.

__I listen and confront partners whose primary motivation is for the other one to change.

__I look for and identify symbiotic beliefs that are inhibiting individual or couple development.

As this self-assessment survey suggests, there are 10 distinct skills that enter into early sessions.

Honestly assessing yourself in these areas will help you focus on the new strengths you would like to acquire as a couples therapist.

I used to think that first sessions were easy to do. Over the many years I have worked with couples, I’ve learned that there are so many pitfalls in first sessions.

What are some good ways to build new skills.

• If you are working with your own consultation group, you can select 1­-2 of these areas and suggest your group focus on these for a few weeks. You can role play cases or ask colleagues to share highlights of sessions that have gone well in the areas where you’d like to grow.
• If you are not in a training or consult group, assess your first sessions. What went well in your most positive sessions and where did you feel stuck? What could you have improved? When you have a particularly difficult session, ask yourself what went wrong. 
• Then, plan to start the next session with a statement about what you wish you had done differently the week before. For example, “Last week I don't think I was clear enough about what it will take for the two of you to change these patterns. Let’s back up and talk more about what real change will require from each of you.” Even if you never actually use the statement with the couple, the awareness and clarity can be very helpful.
• Order a copy of the High Impact Couples Therapy program.

By the time you complete working through this resource, you will:

• Learn how to start therapy before the couple arrives for the first interview.
• Recognize and implement five essential elements in the first interview.
• Incorporate vision setting as a mechanism to shift couples away from
  destructive/blaming cycles and into more positive outcomes.
• Learn to use therapist self­-definition as a leverage for change.

If you would like to see more couples in your practice – and be better equipped to handle even the most difficult couples – this is a resource that will support your growth.

High Impact Couples Therapy

Whatever you do, I encourage you to find a system that helps you develop your skills.

Your work in the world is far too important to leave these things to chance.