Building on the knowledge obtained from Level 1 Training and Level 2 Training, you will master how to effectively use the Oral History Interview during a couple’s assessment and understand its implications. You will learn how to clearly explain to a couple their strengths and challenges in terms of the Sound Relationship House, and how to help partners identify their own “Four Horsemen” and understand the antidotes.

You will learn how to select and utilize appropriate tools to help a couple deepen their Friendship System. You will learn how to clarify a couple’s conflicts in terms of solvable, perpetual, and grid-locked problems, and use the “Dreams Within Conflict” technique to help a couple feel hopeful and to achieve break-through with their perpetual conflict.

You will learn how to successfully intervene when one or both partners are flooding, help a couple reach solutions using the Compromise Ovals intervention, and sensitively intervene when co-morbidities are present. Click here for the Level 3 preparation checklist.

This training is for psychologists, social workers, Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs), professional counselors, addiction counselors, and other mental health professionals. Completion of Level 1 Training and Level 2 Training is required, as well as a master’s degree, doctoral degree, or current enrollment in a graduate program within a mental health-related field is required. Therapy experience is highly recommended, but not required.

• 200+ page PDF Level 3 Clinical Training Manual
• Certificate of Completion for Gottman Method Couples Therapy Level 3 Training upon completion of the event
• Eligibility to continue on to the Certification Track

At the completion of this training, you will be able to:

1. Choose an intervention that is appropriate for the clients at the moment.
2. Recognize the Four Horseman when one member of a couple exhibits that behavior.
3. Stop the couple’s dyadic interaction when one member exhibits one of the four horseman. Describe the Four Horseman to the couple.
4. Explain the antidote to the relevant horseman clearly and accurately.
5. Coach the person with an alternative way to express him- or herself using an appropriate antidote.
6. Re-direct the couple to resume communication in a dyadic way. Continue to monitor for the four horsemen and intervene if they reemerge.
7. Identify when one or both partners are physiologically flooded (and not just upset) and stop the interaction between the couple.
8. Provide a brief explanation of flooding in clear, sensitive language.
9. Intervene by guiding one or both partners through a relaxation technique before continuing.
10. Explain the Dreams Within Conflict process and goals clearly.
11. Instruct couple on the Dreams Within Conflict intervention.
12. Assist one partner to ask the other partner questions about the dream or deeper meaning imbedded in their specific gridlocked issue.
13. Provide The Dream Catcher Questions handout and coach one partner to ask the other questions from the handout to increase understanding of their partner’s underlying dreams or deeper meaning embedded in the specific gridlocked issue; help the couple hold to the questions to go deeper vs. getting into their own point of view.
14. Introduce the concept of softened start-ups and explain why it helps (i.e., it is easier for their partner to hear and understand their point).
15. Explain research showing that the first three minutes of a discussion predicts whether that discussion will go well and whether their overall relationship will go well.
16. Explain importance of expressing needs in positive terms and instruct the partner to restate their point without criticism and then direct them to resume dyadic interaction.
17. Stop couple’s interaction when one or both partners are not accepting influence.
18. Explain the need for accepting influence (which may include reference to research). This includes finding a way to understand and honor some aspect of their partner’s position, with a focus on yielding and accepting influence rather than on persuading.
19. Stop couple and instruct in the concept of offering and accepting repairs and why it is useful.
20. Provide the Repair Checklist and explains it use.
21. Ask appropriate Gottman Oral History questions and stay on track with sensitivity to couple’s issues and building rapport.
22. Conduct Oral History interview with appropriate timing.
23. Conduct Oral History interview with sensitivity to issues of co-morbidity.

• Master’s or doctoral degree OR current enrollment in a graduate program within a mental health-related field
• Completed Level 1 live training or DVD home study*
• Completed Level 2 live training or DVD home study*
• Therapy experience highly recommended

Participants are asked to bring a short (ten minutes or so in length, on DVD or USB drive) video segment of difficult and challenging couples to the Level 3 workshop. The therapist’s work with the couple will not be critiqued; in fact the video does not even need to show the therapist; just showing the couple is all that is needed.

The purpose will be to use these couples to illustrate how the Gottman Method can be applied to these tough cases. Trainers will describe how they would treat these couples and then participants from the audience will volunteer to role play these couples with trainers demonstrating using a variety of interventions with these couples. Participants will then have the opportunity to practice using these interventions in a supportive small group setting with other participants’ role playing the couples from the videos.

Bringing a video isn’t required but it will help to make the training more meaningful for everyone. If you cannot bring a video it would help to bring a brief written description of a challenging couple. This is for Case Discussion within the context of Certification Practicum ONLY and is not related to the videotaped interventions submitted for final Certification Review.