Observing Couples Discussing about "what Might This Be?"

The literature has recently stressed the clinical utility of using the conjoint Rorschach for assessment and intervention with couples seeking treatment. However, there are no clear guidelines in interpreting the behaviors couples display during the discussion about "what could this be?" This study explores the application of the Rapid Marital Interaction Coding System to code couples' behaviors during the process of creation and discussion of conjoint Rorschach responses, using three groups of couples with different degrees of marital satisfaction. Results of these exploratory analyses suggest that (a) the coding allows for identification of differences among the three groups of couples, and (b) the coding yields specific information on partners' behaviors in each group of couples.