Behavioural Couple Therapy: Measuring therapist competence

This paper outlines a pilot validation study of the newly developed Behavioural Couple Therapy Scale for Depression (BCTS-D). The BCTS-D aims to assess therapist competence in delivering Behavioural Couple Therapy (BCT) and provide therapists with summative and formative feedback on their performance. Completed by both therapist and supervisor, this will aid therapists’ reflection on practice and improve performance. This paper will report on 2 stages in the development of the BCTS-D: (a) a study evaluating content validity, face validity, and usability and (b) a focus group examining usability and utility. Both parts of the study were conducted in the context of a BCT training course and comprised 20 participants who were either BCT supervisors or BCT trainees. Results suggest that the BCTS-D has good face validity, content validity, and usability and provides a useful tool for promoting self- reflection and providing formative feedback. The studies also provided insight into the strengths of the scale and into areas of refinement and a number of modifications were undertaken to improve the BCTS-D in response to feedback collected. Future research will need to focus on evaluating the psychometric properties of the BCTS-D and continue to adapt the scale to its users’ needs.