Marriage Clinic

Published USA, 1999
This book presents a complete marital therapy program based on John Gottman`s research on marital success and failure. In prospective, long-term research with over 700 couples, Gottman has discovered certain factors that distinguish happy, stable couples from both unstable, ultimately divorcing couples. These findings, which are explained here in non-technical language, form the basis of his Sound Marital House theory of marriage, which guides the new therapy. It has two goals: changing the marital friendship and teaching couples to regulate conflict. Gottman has found that most marital conflicts involve fundamentally unresolvable relationship issues called `perpetual problems`. He shows how therapists can help spouses move from gridlock to dialogue on these issues. He gives therapists the tools to teach spouses five fundamental skills to develop and strengthen their friendship: softened start-up, accepting influence, repair and de-escalation, compromise, and physiological soothing. This book provides not only a wide range of succinct and useful assessment procedures, but also a highly specific, research-based and modularized treatment program. In addition, there are dozens of questionnaires and interview protocols to be used in both assessment and intervention. 

John Gottman is William Mifflin Professor of Psychology at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Hardback. 456 pages