About the project

A mixed methods study of clients' and therapists' perspectives on what factors promote and inhibit assessment of family violence with the aim to explore possibilities for conjoint couple therapy.

The overarching research project consists of two complementary work packages and employs two public sector Ph.D. candidates. The two work packages have individual and complementary research questions and studies, one focusing on addressing family violence in couple therapy and the other focusing on assessing family violence in couple therapy.

The research context will be the Norwegian Family Counselling Services, and the project is a collaboration between the East Regional Office for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufetat Region Øst), The Research Council of Norway (NFR), and VID Specialized University.

Couple- and family therapists will encounter aggression and family violence in their practice at some point. When family violence becomes an issue, couple and family therapists must have sufficient knowledge, skills, and resources to assess and choose an adequate response to family violence in question.

This work package's primary aim is to examine how both clients and therapists experience the process of violence assessment within a conjoint couple and family therapy setting. The studies will focus on what factors promote and inhibit an assessing process with the aim to clarify the possibility for conjoint couple therapy.

Better knowledge about clients' and therapists' experience and the process can offer the therapists a better roadmap that may inform their practice and suggest possible areas for additional research and organizational development.

The project will use both quantitative and qualitative methods.

Background

Master's degree in health and social work with children and youth

Research group

Professional practice with children, youth and families (PROBUF)