The Effects of Relational Letter Writing

Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Couples

Relational Problems

Treatments

Behavioral: Relational Letter Writing

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT05194683

1005988

Details and patient eligibility

About

The main objective of this research is to explore the relational letter writing technique as an intervention for improving couples' relational well-being. This is a two-arm superiority randomized clinical trial. Sixty-eight couples will be monitored before, during, and after the intervention. To observe the effect of the relational letter, scores of couples who are in the intervention arm and control arm will be compared (between groups) as well as pre-post scores (within-group). The content of the letter writing will be qualitatively analyzed to explore the reconstruction of their ethical values. Results from both methods will be integrated in order to get an in-depth perspective of the newly developed intervention. It is expected to increase the array of available techniques to help couples improve their individual and relational well-being.

Full description

Relational letter writing is a recently developed therapeutic tool within the framework of Narrative Therapy that consists of two interviews and a letter writing task, in which a meta-conversation between the relationship itself, the couple members, and the therapists is fostered. Although this specific therapeutic technique can be used within the therapy process, in this study, it is used as a brief stand-alone narrative intervention.

The main objective of this study is to investigate the efficacy of the innovative Relational letter writing technique as a brief intervention for couples with mild to moderate levels of conflict. Also, the investigators want to explore changes in couples' narratives after experiencing the letter-writing procedure, and whether this technique can lead to reconstructing the relationship ethics and to greater relational awareness and well-being. The following objectives will be observed in this study:

To explore the effects of Relational letter writing practice on couples' relational well-being
To assess changes in individual psychological well-being after the Relational letter writing intervention
To observe whether this technique can lead to reconstructing the relationship ethics and to greater relational awareness, and its relationship with the outcome
To observe whether there is a difference between successful and unsuccessful cases in terms of the content of the letters.

Enrollment

68 estimated patients

Sex

All

Ages

18+ years old

Volunteers

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Couples willing to participate in a relationship enhancing intervention
Couples should have been living together at least for 12 months

Exclusion criteria

Couples who are currently receiving any kind of psychotherapy
Participants presenting severe psychological disorders (Psychosis, substance abuse, major depression)
Presence of intimate partner violence or abuse
Participants presenting cognitive impairment or disability impeding them from writing or answering written information
High-conflicted couples as measured by the DAS (Scores below 70)