Dr. West's Approach to the Gottman Method in his Couples Counseling practice

Timothy West, Ph.D., MFT

(415) 892-7330

Dr. Timothy West, a Marriage & Family Therapist, provides couples counseling through-out Marin County, California. With offices located in Corte Madera, he also serves the communities of Sausalito, Mill Valley, Tiburon, Greenbrae, Larkspur, Kentfield, Ross, San Anselmo, Fairfax, San Rafael, Terra Linda, and Novato.

Couples Clinic Marin

500 Tamal Plaza, Suite 528

Corte Madera, CA 94925

The Gottman Method is based upon 30 years of research...

My approach is based on thirty years of research by John Gottman, Ph.D., who wrote the best-selling book The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work. He has followed the histories of two thousand marriages and has found exactly what successful couples do to maintain romance and harmony in their relationships.

He discovered that couples must learn how to actively build fondness, admiration, and friendship into their partnership before they can successfully resolve conflicts and share their dreams and aspirations together. The Gottman Method, in a straightforward, easy-to-understand way, teaches couples to maintain these positive habits while showing how to avoid the pitfalls of criticism, contempt, and defensiveness, which can poison struggling marriages and lead to divorce.

Gottman found that there were a number of simple relationship habits that happy, long-term couples were practicing:

Positivity and friendship.

Gottman learned that couples need to consistently express appreciation to each other, “check-in” regularly, and schedule “stress-reducing” conversations in order to remain happy.

Love maps.

Successful couples were curious about each other and were consistently inquiring of their partner and adding to their knowledge of each other’s inner and outer worlds.

Repair.

Gottman found that healthy couples know how to recover their positivity after a conflict. All committed relationships experience fights, sometimes serious ones. Wise partners know their own mechanisms for soothing themselves and the other person. They know how to eventually get back to a positive footing while gaining new understanding from the conflict experience.

The beauty of the Gottman Method is that it can identify the areas of your relationship which can be improved and then teach you in straightforward, practical steps how to maintain new and healthier marital habits which will get your relationship back on track.