Invitation to the Transformative Couples Therapy® (TCT) Research Study

We want to invite any couple interested to consider participating in a new study. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of TCT, with the goal of publishing the results in a peer reviewed journal. The total length of the study is sixteen 75-minute sessions held weekly via HIPPA compliant Zoom. There are questionnaires to be filled out at various points during and after the completion of the sessions.

Participating therapists will be offering a 20% or more discount for your participation.

Couples in the study will have the opportunity to work with one of a closely selected set of eight highly skilled senior TCT practitioners. Each therapist is part of a team who consult and support each other to maximize the value of every session. Your written permission to record each session with a HIPAA compliant and encrypted method allows our team to collaborate on your behalf. These same videos and questionnaire data will be identified only by a code and will be held securely for the purposes of anonymous data analysis. This data will form the basis of the published study.

Heading up this highly focused and collaborative team is David Mars, Ph.D., the developer of the TCT method.

See a Bio for Dr. Mars: Meet the developer of Transformative Couples Therapy®

To learn more about TCT: TransformativeCouplesTherapy.com/therapy-for-couples

How do my partner and I apply to participate?

1. Reach out to a member of the Research Team who is licensed in the state where you reside. (See the list below.)

2. Email the therapist with the subject the line “TCT Study” and write a few lines describing what motivates you to be in this study with your partner.

3. If the therapist you select has an opening, and feels you and your partner may be a match for the study, they will schedule a twenty-minute free interview at a mutually convenient time.

4. At the end of the twenty minutes, if you, your partner and the therapist feel you want to work together, you would then begin the study pre-screening process.

What is the couple pre-screening process?

1. Each couple member will respond to a one-page questionnaire. Your responses will be identified only by a code number that the therapist will supply. These results will be held in a confidential HIPAA compliant and encrypted method designed for scientific studies.

2. The therapist will be advised of your eligibility and then contact you. If you and your partner meet the criteria for this study, you can proceed to the next step.

3. Fill out a series of questionnaires with the same code, which will take about fifteen to thirty minutes.

4. If these questionnaires also confirm that you are a match for the study, the therapist will be advised of this and will contact you to set up a mutually workable schedule for the sixteen weekly sessions.

What if we do not meet the criteria for this study?

The therapist will:

1. Refer you to another TCT therapist in your state.

2. Possibly accept you into their couple therapy practice separate from the study.

3. If neither 1 or 2 work out, you will be offered other referrals.

Transformative Couples Therapy Clinicians on the TCT Research Team

California:

David Mars, PhD, MFT at davidmarsphd@gmail.com

Connecticut and New York:

Lisa Gardner, MSW, LCSW at lisagardnerlcsw@gmail.com

Maryland:

Jazmin Moral, MSW, LCSW-C at jazmin@jazminmoral.com

Gail Schumann, MA, LCSW-C at gail@schumann.com

Ontario, Canada:

Julianne Maslabey, RMFT at jmaslabey@rogers.com

Virginia:

Greg Czyszczon, PhD, LPC at Greg Czyszczon gczyszczon@gmail.com

Nate Hefner, MA, LPC at nate.hefner.lpc@pm.me

Mimi Steele, MA, LPC at mcscville@gmail.com