When It Is Used
Use it at a Stage 1 decision point when the practitioner needs to determine whether the couple's negative cycle is de-escalated enough for deeper restructuring work.
Cycle De-escalation Review
Cycle De-escalation Review is an EFCT progress-assessment tool for couple therapists. It helps practitioners organize observations about a couple's negative interaction cycle and review whether Stage 1 change is sufficiently supported before moving into deeper restructuring work.
Explore the review with sample session observations.
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Tool guide
Learn more about this tool
Use this background section to understand when the tool fits, how practitioners use it, and what to consider before sharing it with clients.
What It Captures
The review captures observations about shared cycle recognition, reduced escalation, each partner's role, emotion, and attachment meaning, and stability for next-stage work.
Limits
The tool does not produce a diagnosis, symptom severity score, global relationship outcome score, or automated treatment decision.
Does this tool decide whether the couple is ready for the next stage?
No. It organizes de-escalation evidence into a descriptive progress indicator, while the practitioner retains responsibility for pacing interpretation.
Can the couple complete this together with the therapist?
Yes. A limited shared-completion view may capture couple language, but partners are not asked to self-score Stage 1 completion or decide readiness.
What happens when readiness indicators are incomplete?
Incomplete or unresolved indicators remain visible in the result so the review does not imply readiness prematurely.
Are there configurable settings?
No. The tool is saved as a fixed de-escalation readiness review with its supported indicator structure.