Comparative Effectiveness of Evidence-Based Couple Counseling Models in Reducing Marital Conflict and Divorce Risk: A Systematic Review

Psychosocial issue of marital discord & increasing divorce rates is an important public health issue affecting individuals, families & children. Even though couple counselling has been widely used to enhance relationship functioning in married and non-married couples, systematic studies contrasting the effectiveness of leading counselling models, in reducing marital conflict and risk of divorce, remain few. This systematic review synthesized quantitative intervention studies published from 1990-2025. Studies were selected using a PICOS framework and assessed using Risk of Bias 2 and ROBINS-I tools. The article included fifty-eight studies of six counseling models: Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFT/ EFCT), Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy (IBCT), Traditional Behavioral Couple Therapy (TBCT), the Gottman Method, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), and Choice Theory-based couple therapy. According to the findings, EFT and IBCT appear to have the most support, with moderate to large reductions in marital conflict and divorce-related outcomes.