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Couples Enrichment Program

Do you currently have a stable healthy relationship but feel you could increase your connection and communication skills? This class is based of the 7 principles for making a marriage work by the relationship researhers from the Gottman Institute.  

Forest Trees
Do you currently have a stable healthy relationship but feel you could increase your connection and communication skills? ​
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This class is based of the 7 principles for making a marriage work by the relationship researhers from the Gottman Institute.  Information is powerful! But practicing what you learn is even more important. The psychoeducational counseling method allows you to learn new skills while also getting support and helpful accountability to practice those new skills. This class is not therapy but it is helpful in learning skills that increase communication and connection in couple's relationships. Email me for a meet and greet (video appt)  for couples enrichment.

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My method is not suited for couples in a crisis or wanting to dive into issues immediately as I specialize in enrichment counseling format and I stick to this format due to my choice of therapy.  I love to first set a solid foundation based on evidence-based practices of healthy relationships - which naturally helps counseling be more successful.

The class is based off using "The Seven Principles for Making Relationships Work"  By the famous Gottman Institute


The Seven Principles for Making Relationships Work is practical information designed for couples in committed relationships, which aims to assist them in understanding, and applying it to their own relationship.  

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Couples will learn and have the opportunity to practice, in a private and safe setting, the skills that have been developed from the Seven Principles groundbreaking research findings of award-winning therapist Dr. John and Julie Gottman.

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You will learn skills in the three key relationship areas:
(1) Keep conflict discussions calm

(2) Breakthrough and resolve conflict gridlock
(3) Strengthening a couple's friendship  
(4) Creating a couple's sense of shared purpose and meaning.

(5) Foster respect, affection and closeness

(6) Build and share a deeper connection with each other's inner world
 

Research shows that on average, couples wait 2.68 years* from the first sign of problems before they seek professional help. Increasingly, couples are proactive and getting the expert guidance they need to set their relationship up for success or fix their problems before they get worse.

 

Good relationships don't just build themselves without daily intentional effort, and problems don't just go away, without healthy conflict and communication skills. This class is designed to strengthen your marriage or committed relationship. If you already have a strong relationship, this class will provide you with insights and tools to make it even better.  


More and more, couples are seeking relationship education before they even have any “problems”. Be proactive and learn what decades of research teach us about creating long-term, happy and healthy relationships.
 

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The Gottman Method 


I use a combination of The Gottman Method and a mix of other popular relationship theories. This psycho-educational format, developed by the Gottman Institute, is based on the four decades of acclaimed research by Dr. John Gottman and Nan Silver, which was published in their New York Times Bestseller The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work. If you haven’t yet heard of him, Dr. John Gottman, is a world-renowned researcher and therapist in relationship stability.

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Having been awarded many accolades for his research, including being recognized as “one of the top 10 Most Influential Therapists of the past quarter-century”, Dr. Gottman also lays claim to the ability to be able to detect with 91% accuracy, which couples will part and which will stay together. He describes himself as not being very popular at dinner parties!

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What does a session look like?

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Each session will have a lecture with PowerPoint, a possible video to watch, an exercise to practice in session, a discussion about that week's topic and then a practice goal in between sessions with assigned readings.     Please note this is a structured but still flexible format.  This may not be typical  "counseling"  though we do talk about issues and feelings, please note  I offer couples counseling after couples have completed the class. 

 

My method is not suited for couples in a crisis or wanting to dive into issues immediately as I specialize in enrichment counseling format and I stick to this format due my choice of therapy.  I love to first set a solid foundation based on evidence-based practices of healthy relationships - which naturally helps counseling be more successful.

 

Counseling has a higher chance for success and is best suited for couples that want to stay in their relationship and overall have a positive hope for building a stronger connection. 

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Class Investment 

I have several options for the class format and also offer monthly payment plans. 

The class is 60- 90 minutes per session for 9-18 sessions.  

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9 Class Sessions

9 sessions - each session reviews a new relationship principle with practice in session - SEE OUTLINE BELOW

Fee: $700

Time: weekly sessions over 2 months and 1 week. 

Payment can be divided monthly for 2 months.

Fee: $350 a month  for 2 months

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Biweekly Sessions (2 sessions a month)

9 sessions - each session reviews a new relationship principle with practice in session

Fee: $700

Time: biweekly over 4 months and 1 week

You can divide the payment over 4 months

Paid over 2 months: $350

Paid over 3 months: $235

Paid over 4 months: $175

--paid monthly 

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Please note if you need to miss a week, that is not a problem. Max time for payments though will be 4 months. 

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Class Sessions with Reflection Sessions:

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Over the course of 18 sessions, consisting of 9 educational sessions and 9 reflection sessions, we will delve deeper into the principles discussed in each educational session. During the reflection sessions, we will discuss your experiences and reflect on how you and your partner applied the principles in the previous week, allowing for a more comprehensive exploration of each principle.

Fee: $1390

Time: weekly sessions 4.5 months

Payment: You can choose to break the payment over the course of the program

You can choose to break it up over the following months

2 months ($695)

3 months ($465)

4 months ($348)

-paid monthly

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Please note if you need to miss a week, that is not a problem. Max time for payments though will be 4 months. 

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My method is not suited for couples in a crisis or wanting to dive into issues immediately as I specialize in educational enrichment counseling format and I stick to this format due to my choice of therapy.  I love to first set a solid foundation based on evidence-based practices of healthy relationships 

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Time:

Lecture/Practice sessions: 1.5 hours

Reflection session: 30-50 minutes

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Example: Lecture followed by Relection Session for total 18 sessions

Presession: Getting to know you

Session 1: Overview of the seven principles, Gottman's research, and lecture on what makes a marriage work:

Session 2:  Reflection session discussing session 1, overview of 7 principles  - this will give couples an opportunity to reflect on last weeks principle (lesson). This will allow couples to dive deeper with the material and give more opportunity to reflect on how the material is impacting their relationship.  

Session 3: Enhance your love map

Session 4: Reflection session discussing session 3, enhance your love map and will dive deeper in emotional relationship cycles

Session 5: Fondness and Admiration

Session 6: Reflection session discussing session 5, fondness and admiration.......

ETC....

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See below the class outline for the educational portion of the program 

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Benefit of the reflection sessions: One of the advantages of the 18 reflection sessions over that of the 9-session class format, is the reflection sessions allow more time applying the principles.  In the 9 session format  we dive straight into the next topic or principle each week, we may have limited time to review the previous week's material.

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Location:

I offer sessions at my Tulsa office or Telehealth in OK or TX. 

 

To Schedule:​

Free 15-minute meet and greet ONLINE session to answer your questions and to make sure this is a good fit for your relationship. Please both be available. 

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Important Materials

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Before our first session, please schedule a free 15-minute meet and greet online time.  Meet and greet will be online.

Program Outline

1. Pre-Session: Let me get to know you!  What are your hopes, fears and goals for the class?  How did you meet? What is going well?

  • 1 hour and 15 minutes

2. Overview of the seven principles, Gottman's research, and lecture on what makes a marriage work:

  • Longest lecture on summary of class

  • Video discussing Gottman's 4 horsemen that are disasters to marriages

  • Assign a practice assignment

  • This session covers chapters 1-3

3. Enhance your love maps

  • Lecture for about 10 minutes on principle 1

  • Practice Exercise on Love Maps

  • Practice Exercise on Asking open-ended questions

  • Assign a practice assignment

  • This session covers Chapter 4

4. Nurture Your fondness and admiration

  • Review the previous lesson  and the practice assignment from the previous week

  • Lecture for about 5-10 minutes on the new principles 2 and 3

  • Practice exercise on cherishing your partner

  • Assign a practice assigned on Fondness and Admiration

  • Principle 3

  • Turning Toward

  • Stress Reduction Exercise

  • This session covers Chapters 5 & 6                           

5.Let your Partner Influence you/2 kinds of conflict

  • Lecture on Principle 4
  • Exercise 1, Yield to win
  • Exercise 2, Island survival game
  • Two kinds of confllict
  • Lecture
  • Exercise on solvable and perpertual problems
  • Lecture the keys to manage conflict
  • Covers chapter 7 and 8

6. Working on solving solvable problems

  • Review previous sessions and assignment

  • Lecture on principle 5 - soften your startup

  • Exercise practice on softening startup

  • Lecture on learning to make and receive repair attempts for 5 minutes

  • Practice with the repair checklist

  • Lecture on soothing yourself and each other for about 5 minutes

  • Self-soothing practice exercise

  • Lecture on Compromise for about 5 minutes

  • Exercise on finding common ground

  • This session covers Chapter 9

7. Coping with typical solvable problems

  • Review previous assignment

  • Lecture "unplugging from distractions for about 5 minutes

  • Quiz on electronic distractions with discussion

  • Discuss on the topic of interest as stress, money, parents, housework relations with inlaws,

  • Practice exercise with inlaws (optional)

  • Exercise on "Who does what list"

  • Quiz on quality of sex, romance and passion

  • Lecture on five ways to make sex more personal and romantic

  • This session covers Chapter 10

8. Overcome gridlock

  • Review assigned assignments or readings

  • Lecture on principle 6 about 10 minutes

  • Lecture and review over flooding and self-soothing about 10 minutes

  • Lecture and overview of understanding the dream behind the conflict

  • Practice exercises on detecting dreams behind the conflict

  • Lecture on working on a gridlocked Issue

  • Practice exercise on a gridlocked martial issue

  • This session covers Chapter 11

9. Create shared meaning

  • Review readings or assignments

  • Lecture on principle 7 the ideas of shared meaning pillars: rituals of connection, support for each other's roles, shared goals, shared values and symbols

  • Exercise on using the four pillars above

  • Lecture on The magic 6 hours

  • Lecture on The marital poop detector

  • Lecture on forgiving yourself

  • Practice exercise 

  • Next steps 

  • This session covers Chapter 12

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