Explain couples therapy and negotiate a safe dual-client plan — CASC communication station

Station brief

Format. Communication station, approximately 7–10 minutes active time after reading. You are the psychiatry registrar in outpatient clinic. [1]

Candidate instructions. A couple presents: one partner has major depression and both report severe marital conflict. Explain what couples therapy is in plain language, why you need brief private safety checks with each person, how therapy can address both mood and the relationship when discord is high, whether the SSRI must stop, and rough structure (weekly sessions, skills/acceptance work, review). Collaborative tone; no cure promises; check understanding. [2][1]

Candidate scenario

Your patients are 36 and 37, together 9 years. One has PHQ-9 of 16 on sertraline 100 mg for 8 weeks with partial benefit. They argue most evenings about housework and intimacy; one pursues, the other withdraws. They want “something better than worksheets alone.” No active suicidal plan. No disclosed physical violence. Both agree to therapy if it “doesn’t take forever.” [2][5]

Marking domains

• Warmth, balance of floor time, jargon control
• Accurate dual-client definition of couples therapy
• Explains private IPV/safety screen without alarming unnecessarily
• Links depression and relationship discord as bidirectional targets when both engage safely
• Mentions evidence-based model family (behavioural/integrative/attachment) without lecturing all manuals
• Medication: continue SSRI; combined care acceptable
• Realistic course, homework, mid-course review; checks understanding [1][2][3]