Seeking Marriage Counseling in Austin?
I will provide Gottman couples therapy based on the findings of three decades of research on more than 3,000 couples conducted by John Gottman and his colleagues at the University of Washington. The foundation for this approach to marriage counseling is articulated in Gottman’s book, The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work. Another excellent book written by Gottman which explains his approach is Why Marriages Succeed or Fail.
First, each spouse will complete a packet of assessments which will identify your strengths as a couple and the areas for improvement in your marriage. The marriage counseling process will then target those identified areas for improvement, and any other issues you may want to address. These areas for improvement generally fall into three categories:
- the quality of your friendship (how well do you know each other’s current worlds, do you like and admire each other, and how often do you turn toward each other?),
- the regulation of conflict (do you have the skills to resolve your solvable and perpetual problems?), and
- supporting one another’s individual dreams and nurturing shared goals (does the marriage support each spouse’s life dreams and what are you creating together as a couple?).
I will help you learn and practice new relationship skills, challenge ineffective attitudes, and build more positive feelings into your relationship. We will also work together to solve underlying problems in the marriage and to accept the ones that cannot be changed. I will also teach you a method of processing underlying resentments from past events that may be undermining the quality of your relationship.
Gottman therapy for marriage counseling is designed to be short-term; four months is a reasonable expectation to see improvement in your relationship. If you are seeking marriage counseling in Austin and would like to experience a research- and predominantly skills-based approach, please call me to set up your initial appointment.