Specialist, couples counselling
EVIDENCE BASED THERAPY
Whether you are looking to deepen your relationship, recover from an affair, manage ongoing conflicts, work through financial issues, deal with family issues, external stresses on the relationship, or many other issues facing couples; Gottman therapy is designed to teach you the tools to manage these and deepen the bond and happiness in your relationship. Relationship counselling should be a positive experience for both people in the relationship and together we will learn to navigate the areas of conflict and deepen understanding and friendship. Our therapists are Certified Gottman therapists trained to international standards. The Gottman Institute is an internationally renowned organisation dedicated to building and repairing relationships. Dr John Gottman has revolutionised the study of marriage.
There are three stages of therapy:
There are four sessions in total and before attending your first session you will have completed an online Gottman questionnaire with around 500 questions helping us to build a profile of your relationship. From this we will learn more about your areas of strength and challenge, and together establish goals. The four sessions comprises of two joint sessions and one individual session each. At the end of these sessions we will have a comprehensive profile of your relationship and at this point we will mutually agree on your goals and develop a plan to achieve these.
Who may not be suitable for phase two of Gottman therapy?
In rare occurrences, the therapist may recommend one or both partners undertake specialised individual therapy before proceeding with phase two of Gottman therapy. This is for clients where it is assessed that couples therapy may be premature where there is serious ongoing domestic violence – physical, emotional or verbal.
After stage two is completed it is recommended; appointments would be arranged to check in at 6, 12, 18 and 24 months to ensure desired outcomes are on track and if any adjustments or fine tuning need to be considered.
Further information on Gottman can be found at www.gottman.com
To speak with a counsellor to discuss your needs, please contact us using the contact us form, email or phone number at the bottom of the page.
Pre Marital Counselling
Online Counselling
Online counselling means a therapist is available to you no matter where you are or what your circumstances are. Sessions can be booked in advance. If you have booked a face to face session and your circumstances change, we can arrange to meet online so you don’t have to miss a planned session.
If your situation is critical we recommend you call Life Line 13 11 14 (24-hour crisis counselling).