Understanding change in conjoint psychotherapy: Inviting clients to comment upon the validity of standardized change scores

In an exploratory study using qualitative and quantitative methods, 14 adults presenting for conjoint therapy at university-based marital and family therapy clinics responded to standardized self-report measures before therapy and after six weeks and participated in in-depth interviews exploring their "lived-experience" in therapy compared with their individual results on quantitative measures. Participants often described change more positively than was suggested by scores on quantitative measures. Additionally, participants' accounts provided a context and description of the process of change measured quantitatively. Implications for the practice of marriage and family therapy are discussed.