The Science of Couples and Family Therapy: Behind the Scenes at the "Love Lab"

by John M. Gottman, Julie Schwartz Gottman

John and Julie Gottman, world-renowned for bringing an evidence base to couples therapy, report here the results of a second empirical revolution in understanding couples and families. This change is not based on their guesswork, but on state-of-the-art science. The book you hold in your hands finally completes the old general systems theory of the 1960s, which metaphorically described processes but did not actually research them. A new general systems theory and therapy is presented here, one which will have profound implications for powerful clinical work with both couples and families. This new theory is based on 45 years of careful basic scientific research with thousands of couples and families, including synchronized observational, interview, physiological, and questionnaire data. The Gottmans have studied some families for as long as 20 consecutive years. Their work has led to their highly replicated ability to precisely predict the future of relationships, relationship happiness, and whether couples will divorce or not with as much as 94% accuracy. Their empirical work has also led them to develop and test a theory of specifically what makes relationships work. Each construct in this theory is precise and measurable and it is all written about and described here. This book presents an original new way of understanding relationships and families. Both theoretical and highly practical, and it will help clinicians become more effective in their everyday work.

Genres: Psychology, Relationships, Nonfiction, Counselling, Marriage, Medicine, Grad School

368 pages, Hardcover

Published January 2, 2018

About the author

Dr. Gottman was one of the Top 10 Most Influential Therapists of the past quarter-century by the Psychotherapy Networker. He is the author or co-author of over 200 published academic articles and more than 40 books, including the bestselling The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work; What Makes Love Last; Eight Dates: Essential Conversations for a Lifetime of Love; The Relationship Cure; Why Marriages Succeed or Fail; and Raising An Emotionally Intelligent Child — among many others. Dr. Gottman’s media appearances include Good Morning America, Today, CBS Morning News, and Oprah, as well articles in The New York Times, Ladies Home Journal, Redbook, Glamour, Woman’s Day, People, Self, Reader’s Digest, and Psychology Today.

Co-founder of The Gottman Institute and co-founder of Affective Software, Inc. with his wife, Dr. Julie Schwartz Gottman, John was also the Executive Director of the Relationship Research Institute. He is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Washington, where he founded “The Love Lab” at which much of his research on couples’ interactions was conducted.

Reviews

[Joy Self · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is so unorganized. The formatting is a mess. The book was so confusing because the headings and subheadings were unclear. Subheadings would move across two chapters!!

[Jill Blevins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is for marriage counselors and people who go to marriage counseling or need marriage counseling, or are married, or need help with their miscommunications. It’s full of not-so-easy to digest information about how to successfully negotiate disagreements between couples, or maybe anyone. Because it is primarily geared toward marriage counselors, it’s a bit deep sometimes. You get stuck re-reading because you are not familiar with all the research, the terminology, the dynamics of how couples in trouble interact, and where things tend to go sideways.

Still, it was enjoyable to read what works and what doesn’t with research to back it up. Trust is the basis for any relationship, and that alone was worth reading through the more difficult sections. (You know this, but you don’t KNOW this, trust me!)

It gets a little in-the-weeds at times, and the tone gets kind of goofy here and there, but it should be required reading before you start copying your family dynamics and bringing that into a new relationship.

[Tisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can’t wait to utilize this information in my treatment of couples. Also the information presented on emotional intelligence for children has sparked more interest. So I’m going to tackle their book on the subject next.

[James Cliff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very thorough piece of writing.

I would recommend this book for professionals or anyone else seeking a wider scientific or systematic understanding of this topic.