Couple Interview
For this assignment you will conduct a live interview with an actual couple. You may interview any couple you like, but ideally someone you know in some capacity (family members, friends, co-workers and their spouses/partners). This will be an exploratory interview and NOT a therapy session. No specific interventions or models will be applied, and learners should avoid topics of a serious and intimate nature that are more appropriate for a therapeutic setting. However, it will be important to be an effective communicator during the interview, so relying on some foundational skills like active listening and asking exploratory questions will help the interview to move along smoothly (akin to a journalist or sociologist).
Interview
For this interview, your goal is to learn about a couple relationship, gain experience and increased comfort engaging with a couple, and attend to important aspects of communication unique to couples. Utilize active listening, nonverbal and verbal encouragers, reflecting, validation, and summarizing. You will not be offering advice or applying any model or interventions. This is not a therapy session. If you are solicited for advice, respectfully communicate in a professional tone that it isn’t something you are able to do, and is beyond the scope and intention of this interview.
The interview should be approximately 45–60 minutes in length. Ask the following questions of your interviewees:
How did you meet?
What was the courtship process like?
How would each of you describe your role in the relationship? How was/is that determined?
How has your relationship changed/evolved?
What are some of the strengths in your relationship?
How do you handle challenges in your relationship?
Part 2: Analysis
In a 4–6 page paper, provide an analysis of your interview that includes the following:
Summarize themes that emerged in the interview about the couple relationship, with a primary focus on strengths. Include specific examples.
Discuss the observations you made about affect and nonverbal communication between the couple. Include specific examples. Focus on things such as how they interacted. Who spoke more? How close did they sit? What did you observe about their emotional expression, intellectualizing, and so forth?
Analyze the relationship between affect and nonverbal communication and the themes that emerged. Include specific examples: for example, did they smile and use humor when talking about how they met?
Describe how at least two key cultural and contextual factors (race, gender, and so forth) may influence this couple relationship.
Using one of the couple therapy models you have been learning about in the course thus far, describe one intervention that you feel would further strengthen this couple relationship. Briefly summarize the intervention and describe how it can be applied specifically to this couple.
Based on the model above, identify a specific goal for this couple that would further strengthen their relationship. Describe how the goal is aligned with the model.
