The short answer to the research question on “does DC work?” is yes.
But let’s back up to the underlying question, which is whether DC is a necessary service. Prior to the development of DC, clinicians pretty much had 3 options: tell the couple to come back when they’re on the same page, convince a leaning in that the marriage was over and maybe offer your divorce services, or try to wrangle a leaning-out spouse to go try couples therapy (maybe committing to a certain number of sessions).
Many therapists have ended up frustrated with having only these three options, the first two because little is being offered to help the marriage and the third often ending in failed couples therapy.
So how do we know that couples are actually discerning in DC, as opposed to going through the motions and ending up in one place—either divorce or doing couples therapy?
The evidence comes from data from a formal research study that followed DC cases for two years, and from on over a thousand DC cases whose path outcomes were submitted by newly-certified discernment counselors.
Here is how couples end up in terms of the three paths:
This indicates that real discernment is going on. If nearly everyone ended up choosing the Path two divorce, then DC would be superfluous—they should start out with mediation or other divorce procedures. If nearly everyone ended up in couples therapy (path three), then why not skip DC and just start therapy? If everyone divorced or did therapy, then we would worry that we were forcing decisions (hence, the use of path one is reassuring).
What you, or referring therapists, or even the public often really mean when they say is there research and does it show that DC works, is simply this: is there proof something shifts with this service that would not change if someone didn’t go through DC.
This is a highly focused service, as you’ll see. But remember the goals as the lynchpin of this service: clarity and confidence (real discernment) about a direction for the marriage, based on a deeper understanding of what’s happened to the marriage and each person’s contributions to the problems.
Bottom line:
You can feel confident that DC is an useful and effective service for couples on the brink. And if you wanted to read some of the research, it is here.