Who can participate?

• Couples* in which at least one person has depression and would like to begin psychotherapy.
• The relationship has lasted for at least 6 months.
• Both partners are between 18 and 70 years old.
• Both partners have a very good level of German.
• No current couples therapy or couples counseling.
• No violence in the relationship.
• Further criteria will be clarified in the preliminary discussion.

*Participant of all genders and sexual orientation are welcome!

Duration

• Initial consultation at the Psychotherapy Outpatient Clinic Marburg (PAM)
• Preliminary telephone interview for the therapy study
• An initial appointment on site at the Department of Psychology for the patient(s) with interviews, questionnaires, tests, an experiment, and an EEG measurement (approx. 4.5 hours in total). This is followed by three weeks of daily surveys via smartphone with 6 short questionnaires per day.
• An MRI measurement at the University Hospital Marburg Ortenberg (approx. half an hour)
• A joint appointment at the Department of Psychology with questionnaires, a couple's interview, and a short voice recording (approx. 1 hour in total)
• Therapy at the Marburg Psychotherapy Outpatient Clinic with or without partner
• After completing therapy as part of the study, there will be another joint appointment with an interview, questionnaires, a couple's discussion, and voice recordings. The patient will participate in another three weeks of daily surveys via smartphone.
• Six and 12 months later, there will be another interview and questionnaires. This can be done online.

Location

Marburg Psychological Institute and Marburg Psychotherapy Outpatient Clinic, Gutenbergstraße 18

Data protection

All relevant data protection regulations are complied with (GDPR, protection of patient data).

Incentive

Couples who participate fully in all data collection before and after therapy will receive an expense allowance of €400.

In any case, you will receive psychotherapy according to the latest scientific standards.

You will be making an important contribution to research! The results will help us to better understand depression in the context of relationships so that we can continue to work on improving treatment options.