Feasibility Study of Couple Therapy Treatment for Situational Couple Violence

Inclusion Criteria: * This study is open to married, dating, and cohabiting couples. * Couples will have to be involved in an intimate relationship with their current partner for at least one year. * Both partners have to be older than 18 years of age at the time they sign consent. * Couples must have mild to moderate forms of situational couple violence. * Both partners must want couples therapy and both partners must desire to maintain the relationship. * Both individuals from the couple must participate concurrently, although they will sometimes be separated when asked questions of a sensitive nature. * Only heterosexual couples will be included in the study. * Both partners can be on psychotropic medication, if they are on medication and stable for past 12 month prior to enrollment, and no psychiatric hospitalization for past 2 years. Exclusion Criteria: * Couples will be excluded from the study if there are indicators of severe intimate partner violence and/or characterological violence as this study targets couples with mild to moderate levels of violence. In order to distinguish between these two different types of violence, we will use specific items in the Conflict Tactic Scale (CTS) completed by both parties (Johnson, \& Leone, 2005). Severe and/or characterological violence in this study is defined as follows: * If participants answer yes to both of the following items: "I punched or hit my partner with something that could hurt", "I kicked my partner". * I…