BRISBANE RELATIONSHIP, MARRIAGE AND COUPLES
COUNSELLING
Research and evidence based couples counselling with our experienced psychologists and psychotherapists:
- Christine Marsden: (Gottman Approach – see below)
- Claire Pang (Gottman Approach – see below)
- Priyanka Komandur: CBT styled approach, 50-60 minute sessions with couple attending together
- Scott Lacey: EFT styled approach, 50-60 minute sessions with couple attending together
- Bina Shah (Gottman Approach – see below).
- Kate Wheeler (Gottman Approach – see below).
When your marriage or relationship is struggling, it can impact all other areas of your life. Challenges and demands sometimes erode our relationships, but most people have never learned the skills to communicate and process conflict, or may simply have a very different communication style to their partner.
The Gottman Process offers support for couples in varying phases of their relationship:
- Couples who are struggling in their relationship or marriage
- Couples who are unsure if they want to remain in their relationship
- Couples who are going well but who want to improve their closeness and communication
- Pre-marriage counselling
RELATIONSHIP COUNSELLING PROCESS – Gottman Method
Couples Therapy Assessment Phase (Stage One)
Our Psychologists and Relationship experts based our approach on 40 years of research by leading world relationship experts, Dr John and Julie Gottman. Hundreds of studies have helped to identify the factors which predict relationships that succeed or fail.
Brisbane Wellbeing Clinic offers the Gottman Relationship Check Up Assessment Process to help you and your partner identify the strength and struggle areas in your relationship and to help determine whether you may benefit from couples therapy.
The Couples Therapy Assessment Phase
Interview as a Couple
A 90 minute interview where the couple comes in together to see the relationship therapist.
Online Relationship Check Up Questionnaire
If recommended by the relationships psychologist following the initial interview, completion of an in-depth relationship questionnaire by each partner – The questionnaire can be done from home (online) and is composed of 480 questions about friendship, intimacy, emotions, conflict, values, and trust, as well as parenting, housework, finances, individual areas of concern, and more. This assessment takes 1 to 2 hours to complete. It is an efficient way to gain in depth information that would otherwise take many sessions to understand.
Individual Interviews
Individual 50 minute interviews with each partner and a relationship psychologist to help understand each point of view and motivations.
Relationship Feedback Session
Following intensive interpretation your relationship therapist will then meet with you and your partner for a 90 minute feedback session to discuss the feedback from the individual interviews and questionnaire to help you to identify your relationship strengths and struggles and to provide targeted recommendations about focus areas should you both wish to proceed to couples therapy.
Couples Counselling Phase (Stage Two)
Couples can then choose to proceed to having regular relationship counselling sessions to work on the identified struggle areas of their relationship. Depending on the needs of the couple, relationship counselling is generally on a weekly to fortnightly basis initially and then moves to a less frequent basis to help maintain relationship closeness.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT RELATIONSHIP COUNSELLING
What if my partner does not want to attend?
For couples counselling to be effective, it is important that there is a level of willingness for both partners to make a change. Often one or both partners may feel uncertain about whether they want to work on the relationship. The Relationship Assessment phase (step one detailed above) is not committing to counselling, but rather to an assessment of where things are currently at so that both parents can decide whether they want to proceed with counselling. In situations where your partner is unwilling to do this or perhaps you want to talk about your relationship with a psychologist or relationship therapist one on one, it is best to book as an individual consultation rather than as a relationships consultation.
How many sessions will we need?
For some couples the assessment process is enough to help give some clarity to move forward, for other couples particularly those have been struggling for a long time, more intensive sessions are required. Your psychologist will discuss their recommendations with you after completing a careful assessment of your situation.
What type of couples problems does relationship counselling help with?
Some of the most common issues that we see couples struggle with include:
- Different emotional styles
- Unresolved conflict
- Affairs or other significant ruptures to the relationship
- A sense of growing apart
- Loneliness within the relationship
- Lack of closeness and intimacy
- Communication struggles and avoidance of resolving issues
- Impact of anger, reactivity or mood issues
- Impact of mental health issues
- Impact of drug and alcohol issues
- Impact of stress or work challenges
- Stage of life adjustment and challenges