The Art and Science of Love

Click here to view the workshop brochure and download the registration form.

Who Should Attend
Research shows that on average, couples wait six years from the first signs of problems before they seek help. This workshop is designed to strengthen your marriage or relationship. If you have a strong relationship, this workshop will provide you with insights and tools to make it a great one. If your relationship is distressed, this two-day workshop will provide a road map for repair.

What You'll Learn
At the workshop, couples will learn how to:

• Foster respect, affection, and closeness
• Build and share a deeper connection with each other's inner world
• Keep conflict discussions calm
• Break through and resolve conflict gridlock
• Strengthen and maintain the gains in your relationship

The Workshop Program
John Gottman, Ph.D., has learned what really makes marriages work by studying and following over 3,000 couples in 30 years of research. John Gottman together with Dr Julie Schwartz Gottman, the Clinical Director of both The Gottman Institute and The Gottman Relationship Clinic, has designed this workshop presented by Gottman Certified Couples Workshop Leaders to teach you how to foster romance and harmony in your relationships.

During the first day, you will learn how to build fondness, admiration, and closeness in your relationship. On the second day, you'll work on conflict management while learning new and important communication skills.

In the workshop, there will be many humorous stories and role-plays by Gottman Certified Couples Workshop Leaders. Couples work privately on exercises designed to address the challenges in their real-life relationship. Gottman therapists are available to support couples one-on-one with exercises. There is no group work or public disclosure.

At the end of the workshop you will leave with a greater understanding of your relationship and the skills to repair or enhance it.

Workshop Topics

1. The five basic questions

• How is your marriage/relationship doing?
• What makes relationships change, for better or for worse?
• If your marriage is in trouble, how can you turn it around?
• If your marriage is doing well, how can you ensure that your relationship will continue to grow?
• As your relationship improves, how can you make changes last?

2. Assessing your marriage

• Learn to recognize the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and what to do if they are attacking your marriage.
• Identify your relationship's specific strengths and how to build on these.
• Learn about the effects of physiological flooding and how it may impede conflict resolution.
• Learn the small, easy steps that increase romance in your relationship.

3. Building a "Sound Relationship House"

• Learn how Love Maps provide a solid foundation for intimacy.
• Use the Fondness and Admiration System to renew respect and care for one another.
• Create an Emotional Bank Account that you can draw upon in times of stress. Develop your problem-solving skills, including the four techniques of effective conflict regulation: Softened Start-up, Accepting Influence, Repair Work, and De-escalating.

Liliane Nahas M.Ed. LPC, LMFT has been trained and certified by the Gottmans as leaders for The Art & Science of Love Workshop. She, along with her co-presenters Don and Carrie Cole will be bringing the workshop to Houston on February 21-22, 2009. Click here for more information and to register for the workshop.