The Gottman Method: Types Of Couples-Based Therapy

Gottman Method is a type of couples-based therapy, that is based on the studies and clinical practice of psychologist John M. Gottman, and his wife psychologist Julie Gottman. John Gottman is a contemporary psychologist best known for his research on marital stability and his ability to predict divorce with over 90% accuracy. In a nutshell, this therapy is based on developing understanding skills so that partners can maintain affection and admiration, turn toward each other and to get their needs met and manage conflicts they face. All therapy is based on a couple’s patterns of interacting, and partners learn and implement relationship-building and problem-solving skills together. The Gottman Method asserts on observations and predictions which
I have not seen this therapy model throughout my school life, but I had a chance to observe and learn in my internship period. Schema Therapy combines facets of cognitive, behavioral, psychodynamic, attachment and gestalt models, and considered to be a truly integrative model, and one that continues to evolve as its use internationally is growing. Theoretical integration aspires to more than a simple combination of techniques as it seeks to create an emergent theory that is more than a sum of its parts (Norcross, 1997). Young (1990) defines Early Maladaptive Schemas (EMS) as self-defeating emotional and cognitive patterns that develop early in childhood and are strengthened and elaborated throughout life. Maladaptive behaviors are considered to be driven by schemas. According to the model, schemas are dimensional, meaning that they have different levels of severity and preponderance. A schema is a stable and a lasting negative pattern that develops during childhood through adolescence and is reinforced through thoughts, actions, beliefs, and relationships throughout the individual’s life. The therapy involves three stages. First stage is the assessment phase, in which the schemas are identified. Second stage is the emotional awareness and experiential phase, where the patients get in touch with the schemas, and the third stage is the behavioral change stage, which the client actively becomes involved in replacing the negative and habitual thoughts with new and healthy behavioral and cognitive options. Dr. Jeffrey E. Young, the founder of schema therapy, has listed 18 types of schemas. These are; Abandonment / Instability, Mistrust / Abuse, Emotional Deprivation, Defectiveness / Shame, Social Isolation / Alienation, Dependence / Incompetence, Vulnerability to harm or illness, Enmeshment / Undeveloped Self, Failure to Achieve, Entitlement / Grandiosity, Insufficient Self-Control /