Understanding profiles of couples attending community-based couple counseling and relationship education services.

There is limited research on the characteristics of couples who seek community-based relationship services. This article updates the evidence base with findings from the Evaluation of Couple Counseling (ECC) Study. This study is looking at clients attending either couple counselling or Relationships Australia Victoria's 'Good Connecting' relationship education course, from eight urban and rural community-based sites in Victoria over a 12-month period. This article compares the characteristics of couples, their health and well-being, reasons for attendance at the relationship service, seriousness of relationship issues, children, and financial difficulty. Couples seeking help to end the relationship or with a history of domestic violence were excluded. The article concludes briefly with the implications for practice and further research.