Level 1 Clinical Training

Bridging The Couple Chasm

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"It’s a myth that if you solve your problems you’ll automatically be happy. We need to teach couples that they’ll never solve most of their problems."- John Gottman, Ph.D.

Details and Registration

A Research-Based Approach 2-Day Seminar

A truly inspiring workshop, Level 1 Training will give you new insights into treatment for couples who struggle, using proven assessment techniques and intervention strategies.

Our practical, emotion-focused, and highly effective approach is based on Drs. John and Julie Gottman’s four decades of research with more than 3,000 couples. It is the most extensive study ever done on marital stability and divorce prediction.

Workshop Description:

In this workshop, you will be provided with a research-based roadmap for helping couples compassionately manage their conflicts, deepen their friendship and intimacy, and share their life purpose and dreams based on the Sound Relationship House Theory.

You will be introduced to Dr. Gottman’s breakthrough research on thousands of couples to understand the difference between the “Masters” and “Disasters” of relationships. If you are not already doing assessment, this training will teach you how to assess a relationship’s strengths and areas of concern using empirically validated questionnaires.

You will view original videos of real couples from the famous Gottman “Love Lab,” as well as videos of Dr. Julie Gottman demonstrating assessment and interventions in a case example from her private practice.

What you will learn in Level 1

You will learn research-based strategies and tools to help couples successfully manage conflict. You will gain skills to empower partners to dialogue about their worst gridlocked issues by uncovering their underlying dreams, history, and values. You will gain tools to help couples process fights and heal their hurts, and techniques for partners to deepen their intimacy and minimize relapse.

Who is this training for?

This training is for mental health providers, allied professionals and clergy, students and interns, family clinic staff, professors/teachers of couples therapy, researchers in the social sciences, and employee assistance professionals. There are no prerequisites.

What is included in the price?

Included in the registration price is a clinical training manual, which contains the core Gottman Method Couples Therapy assessments and interventions. You will be awarded a Certificate of Completion from The Gottman Institute.

  • PDF Download of the 300-page Level 1 Clinical Training Manual
  • On-Demand training of the Drs. John and Julie Schwartz-Gottman's presentation and videos of a recent Level 1 in your Gottman Institute account on their website.
  • Gottman Method Couples Therapy Level 1 Training Certificate of Completion
  • Up to 12 CE Hours available
  • Eligibility to continue to Level 2 Training

Training Objectives

At the completion of this training, you will be able to:

  • Summarize the research that allows us to predict future relationship stability.
  • Describe the seven levels of the Sound Relationship House Theory.
  • Conduct a couple’s therapy assessment using elements of the couple’s narrative, the Oral History Interview, written questionnaires, observations of conflict and individual interviews.
  • Describe two interventions to help strengthen a couple’s conflict management.
  • Describe two interventions to enhance a couple’s friendship system.
  • Describe two interventions to explore a couple’s system of shared meaning.
  • Explain why physiological self-soothing is essential for a healthy relationship.
  • Create a therapeutic contract with a couple, discuss and decide on goals and include a summary of the couples strengths and areas that need improvement.
  • Describe the Philosophy of Therapy and including assumptions, overview of techniques and goals of therapy.
  • Describe the Rapoport Intervention and when to use it.
  • Describe the process of therapy, including the structure of a session.