43533 Ridge Park Drive
Suite C
Temecula, CA 92590
951-541-6813
For Couples
You love your partner. Unfortunately, love alone is not enough to make a relationship work. there are certain skills you need to develop in order to flourish as a couple. John and Julie Gottman, two of my favorite couples therapists, outline seven principles for a happy and healthy relationship in their book The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work:
- Enhance your love maps
- Nurture your fondness and admiration
- Turn toward each other instead of away
- Let your partner influence you
- Solve your solvable problems
- Overcome gridlock
- Create shared meaning
In couples therapy, you and your partner will learn how to make a relationship work. There are many things you can do to strengthen your relationship. Accomplishing the seven steps above will solidify your friendship, the foundation of your relationship.
Before you come in for couples therapy, try answering ten questions posed by Dr. Ellyn Bader of the Couples Institute. This questionnaire, called The Big Picture, will help you gain insight into where your relationship is at right now and thus what direction we may want to take in therapy.