The strength of behavioural marital therapy is seen to lie in its close links between theory, assessment and therapy. Issues raised by contributions to this special issue are reviewed as they bear on each of these domains and the implications they have for the next decade of research and practice are discussed. Some problems with the prevailing cognitive-behavioural models of marital functioning are noted, the difficulties of establishing effective clinical use of research innovations in assessment are lamented, and the need for innovation in therapy to meet the demands of diverse client groups is considered. An appeal is made for more attention to be given to maintenance and transfer (generalisation) issues. Finally, it is suggested that the decade of the 1990s become the decade of prevention research.