Clinical Trainings with Gottman Therapists
A weekend training to learn the Gottman Method
We are currently scheduling our 2025 workshops. Please contact us if you’d like to be notified with more information.
Clinical Training Reviews
Over 200 professionals have attended a training with HealingBridge. Here is what some of them have said:
Level 1 Clinical Training
Level 1 is now offered in-person as well as virtually.
Take the first step in learning Gottman Method Couples Therapy.
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.
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In this training, 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.
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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.
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Mental health providers
Allied professionals and clergy
Students and interns
Family clinic staff
Professors/teachers of couples therapy
Researchers in the social sciences
Employee assistance professionals
There are no prerequisites. 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 with an assessment score of 80% or better from The Gottman Institute.
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300-page digital Level 1 Clinical Training Manual
Gottman Method Couples Therapy Level 1 Training Certificate of Completion
Up to 11 CE Hours available
Videos for online lectures and interventions
Eligibility to continue to Level 2 Training
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For auditors (have taken the training before)
For Campbellsville University Staff, Students, and Faculty
For everyone else
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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.
Level 2 Clinical Training
The Level 2 Clinical Training is now offered virtually as well as in-person.
Expand your assessment strategies and intervention techniques
After you’ve been introduced to the fundamentals of Gottman Method Couples Therapy presented in Level 1 Training, the Level 2 Training will expand your assessment strategies and intervention techniques. This is the next step toward certification and designation as a Certified Gottman Therapist.
At the completion of Level 2 Training, you should have the clinical familiarity, knowledge, and resources to integrate Gottman Method Couples Therapy assessments and interventions into your clinical work.
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This workshop provides a wealth of information about relationship theory, observation, couple dynamics, relationship assessment, treatment planning, when and how to use interventions, and working with co-morbidities. All materials may be used in clinical settings.
You will view original videos of couples from the famous Gottman “Love Lab,” as well as video of Drs. John and Julie Gottman demonstrating assessment and interventions in real case examples from their private practice. Live workshop participants will practice using the interventions in role play sessions to help gain confidence using them with couples.
This training dives deep into the Gottman Method approach for treating complicated cases involving co-morbidities, including affairs, PTSD, addiction, and domestic violence.
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Building on what you learned in the Level 1 Training, you will learn:
How to assess a couple’s Friendship Profile, Conflict Profile, and Shared Meaning Profile.
You will be provided with a toolkit of interventions that couples can use as antidotes to the Four Horsemen and soothe physiological flooding.
You will apply six modes of changing the Attack/Defend System in a couple’s interactions, and learn how to assist couples in establishing dialogue about their gridlocked conflicts.
You will learn how to select and implement interventions to help couples deepen their Friendship System with rituals of connection, select and implement interventions to help couples create a shared system of values and meaning, and identify and implement five different co-morbidities common to couples using Gottman assessments and interventions.
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Mental health providers
Allied professionals and clergy
Students and interns
Family clinic staff
Professors/teachers of couples therapy
Researchers in the social sciences
Employee assistance professionals
**Completion of Level 1 Training is required.
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500+ Clinical Level 2 Clinical Training Manual which contains the core Gottman Method Couples Therapy assessments and interventions.
Gottman Method Couples Therapy Level 2 Training Certificate of Completion (with an assessment score of 80% or better from The Gottman Institute)
Up to 20 CE Hours
Eligibility to continue to Level 3 Training
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For auditors (have taken the training before)
For Campbellsville University Staff, Students, and Faculty
For everyone else
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At the completion of this training, you will be able to:
Describe the three qualities every therapist needs.
Explain the basics of observation including why it’s important to recognize Emotions on the Human Face, Tension in the Voice, the Importance of Words and the use of the SPAFF coding system.
Describe the seven levels of the Sound Relationship House theory.
Describe how to recognize Bids and Turning Towards.
Explain and demonstrate how to conduct an Oral History Interview.
Assess a couple’s “Friendship Profile,” “Conflict Profile,” and “Shared Meanings Profile.”
Describe the use of the core assessments with couples, including the Locke-Wallace, Weiss-Cerretto, Gottman Sound Relationship House Questionnaires, Gottman 19 Areas Checklist, EAQ, SCL-90, Detour Scales, CAGE, b-Mast, and Supplemental Assessments.
Formulate a treatment plan and present it to the couple including using the Sound Relationship House model.
Develop interventions that couples can use as antidotes to the “Four Horsemen.”
Help couples to physiologically soothe when flooded.
Select and implement interventions to help deal with conflict.
Apply different modes of changing the “Attack/Defend System” in a couple’s interaction.
Assist couples to establish dialogue about their gridlocked conflicts.
Select and implement interventions to help couples deepen their “Friendship System” with Rituals of Connection.
Select and implement interventions to help couples create a shared system of values and meaning.
Use and describe the Stress-Reducing Conversation to minimize relapse.
Identify and formulate a plan for different co-morbidities common to couples using Gottman Method Couples Therapy Assessment and Intervention.
Describe how to apply Gottman Method Couples Therapy to a couple who has experienced an affair.
Describe when it is appropriate and inappropriate to use Gottman Method Couples Therapy with a couple dealing with substance abuse.
Describe the differences between situational and characterological domestic violence and when it is appropriate and inappropriate to use Gottman Method Couples Therapy with a couple dealing with domestic violence.
Level 3 Clinical Training
The Level 3 Clinical Training is now offered virtually as well as in-person.
Practice and refine your use of Gottman Method Couples Therapy
There is no better way to learn how to apply Gottman Method Couples Therapy than the Level 3 Training.
Through videotaped cases of real couples, hands-on role plays, demonstrations of assessments and interventions, and nuanced discussion of technique, the Level 3 Training significantly expands your understanding of when and how to use Gottman Method strategies.
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In a small-group setting, you will have the opportunity to practice and refine your use of Gottman Method therapy and receive personalized guidance in developing a roadmap for making sound clinical decisions.
The Level 3 Training content represents the true resistances and co-morbidities we face as therapists and how we can transform them into effective healing methods for the couple.
The training is structured to help create a safe and secure environment so participants can learn and practice while feeling free of criticism and negative judgment.
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Building on the knowledge obtained from Level 1 Training and Level 2 Training, you will master how to:
Effectively use the Oral History Interview during a couple’s assessment and understand its implications
You will learn how to clearly explain to a couple their strengths and challenges in terms of the Sound Relationship House
You will learn how to help partners identify their own “Four Horsemen” and understand the antidotes.
You will learn how to select and utilize appropriate tools to help a couple deepen their Friendship System.
You will learn how to clarify a couple’s conflicts in terms of solvable, perpetual, and grid-locked problems, and use the “Dreams Within Conflict” technique to help a couple feel hopeful and to achieve break-through with their perpetual conflict.
You will learn how to successfully intervene when one or both partners are flooding, help a couple reach solutions using the Compromise Ovals intervention, and sensitively intervene when co-morbidities are present. Click here for the Level 3 preparation checklist.
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Psychologists
Social Workers
Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs)
Professional Counselors
Addiction Counselors
Other Mental Health Professionals
**Completion of Level 1 Training and Level 2 Training is required, as well as a master’s degree, doctoral degree, or current enrollment in a graduate program within a mental health-related field is required. Therapy experience is highly recommended, but not required.
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200+ Level 3 Clinical Training Manual, which contains the core Gottman Method Couples Therapy assessments and interventions.
Certificate of Completion for Gottman Method Couples Therapy Level 3 from The Gottman Institute.
Eligible for up to 20 CE hours (contact trainer for details)
Eligibility to continue on to the Certification Track
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For auditors (have taken the training before)
For Campbellsville University Staff, Students, and Faculty
For everyone else
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At the completion of this training, you will be able to:
Choose an intervention that is appropriate for the clients at the moment
Recognize the Four Horseman when one member of a couple exhibits that behavior.Stop the couple’s dyadic interaction when one member exhibits one of the four horseman. Describe the Four Horseman to the couple.
Explain the antidote to the relevant horseman clearly and accurately.
Coach the person with an alternative way to express him- or herself using an appropriate antidote.
Re-direct the couple to resume communication in a dyadic way. Continue to monitor for the four horsemen and intervene if they reemerge.
Identify when one or both partners are physiologically flooded (and not just upset) and stop the interaction between the couple.
Provide a brief explanation of flooding in clear, sensitive language.
Intervene by guiding one or both partners through a relaxation technique before continuing.
Explain the Dreams Within Conflict process and goals clearly.
Instruct couple on the Dreams Within Conflict intervention.
Assist one partner to ask the other partner questions about the dream or deeper meaning imbedded in their specific gridlocked issue.
Provide The Dream Catcher Questions handout and coach one partner to ask the other questions from the handout to increase understanding of their partner’s underlying dreams or deeper meaning embedded in the specific gridlocked issue; help the couple hold to the questions to go deeper vs. getting into their own point of view.
Introduce the concept of softened start-ups and explain why it helps (i.e., it is easier for their partner to hear and understand their point).
Explain research showing that the first three minutes of a discussion predicts whether that discussion will go well and whether their overall relationship will go well.
Explain importance of expressing needs in positive terms and instruct the partner to restate their point without criticism and then direct them to resume dyadic interaction.
Stop couple’s interaction when one or both partners are not accepting influence.
Explain the need for accepting influence (which may include reference to research). This includes finding a way to understand and honor some aspect of their partner’s position, with a focus on yielding and accepting influence rather than on persuading.
Stop couple and instruct in the concept of offering and accepting repairs and why it is useful.
Provide the Repair Checklist and explains it use.Eligibility to continue on to the Certification Track.
Ask appropriate Gottman Oral History questions and stay on track with sensitivity to couple’s issues and building rapport.
Conduct Oral History interview with appropriate timing.
Conduct Oral History interview with sensitivity to issues of co-morbidity.
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Case Discussion in Certification Practicum Participants are asked to bring a short (approximately ten minutes) video segment (on DVD or USB thumb drive) of difficult and challenging couples to the Level 3 Training. The therapist’s work with the couple will not be critiqued. In fact, the video does not even need to show the therapist, just seeing the couple is all that is needed.
The purpose will be to use these couples to illustrate how the Gottman Method can be applied to these tough cases. The trainer(s) will describe how they would treat these couples and then participants from the audience will volunteer to role play these couples with the trainer(s) demonstrating using a variety of interventions with these couples. Participants will then have the opportunity to practice using these interventions in a supportive small group setting with other participants’ role playing the couples from the videos.
Bringing a video tape isn’t required, but it will help make the training more meaningful for everyone. If you cannot bring a taped segment, it would help to bring a brief written description of a challenging couple for the same purpose. This is for Case Discussion within the context of Certification Practicum ONLY and is not related to the videotaped interventions submitted for final Certification Review.It’s best to bring a link or file for your video.