The Marriage Clinic: A Scientifically Based Marital Therapy (Norton Professional Books) [Hardcover]

John M. Gottman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0393702820 | ISBN-13: 978-0393702828 | Publication Date: August 17, 1999 | Edition: 1

The Marriage Clinic presents a complete marital therapy program based on John Gottman's much heralded research on marital success and failure.

Here one will find not only a wide range of succinct and useful assessment procedures, but also a highly specific, research-based, and modularized treatment program. In addition, there are dozens of questionnaires and interview protocols to be used in both assessment and intervention.

In prospective, long-term research with over 700 couples, Gottman has discovered certain factors that distinguish happy, stable couples from both unstable, ultimately divorcing couples and stable but unhappy couples. These findings, which are explained here in understandable, nontechnical language, form the basis of his Sound Marital House theory of marriage, which guides the new therapy. This therapy has two goals: changing the marital friendship and teaching couples to regulate conflict.

Despite the high aims of much marital therapy, Gottman found that most marital conflicts involve fundamentally unresolvable relationship issues called "perpetual problems." He shows how therapists can help spouses move from gridlock to dialogue on these issues. Solvable problems can be resolved more easily when the couple has a strong marital friendship. He gives therapists the tools to teach spouses five fundamental skills to develop and strengthen their friendship: softened start-up, accepting influence, repair and de-escalation, compromise, and physiological soothing.

Gottman compares his clinic to a restaurant, where clients are offered a menu of treatment formats, from psychoeducation for specific issues to extended therapy to repair a badly damaged marital friendship. Therapists, too, can choose among the questionnaires and strategies for those that fit the needs of particular couples. Whatever their choice, they will find that their practice is greatly enriched by the scientifically-based offerings of The Marriage Clinic.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John M. Gottman, Ph.D., is William Mifflin Professor of Psychology at the University of Washington in Seattle. He is the author of over two dozen books, including Seven Principles to Making Marriage Work, The Heart of Parenting (with J. DeClaire), When Men Batter Women (with Neil Jacobson), Why Marriages Succeed or Fail, The Marriage Clinic, and The Science of Trust.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 452 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1 edition (August 17, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393702820
• ISBN-13: 978-0393702828
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,427 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #46 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Mental Health > Compulsive Behavior

More About the Author

John Gottman, Ph.D., is world-renowned for his work on relationship stability and divorce prediction, involving the study of emotions, physiology, and communication. He was recently voted one of the Top 10 Most Influential Therapists of the past quarter-century by the PsychoTherapy Networker publication. His 35 years of breakthrough research on marriage, relationships and parenting has earned him numerous major awards.

He is the author of 190 published academic articles and author or co-author of 40 books. Dr. Gottman is the co-founder of The Gottman Institute where he currently teaches weekend workshops for couples and training workshops for clinicians. He is the Executive Director of the Relationship Research Institute, where programs have been developed for parents transitioning to parenthood and are beginning a new research project on treatment for Domestic Violence. Dr. Gottman is also in private practice in Seattle and sees couples for weekly and intensive marathon therapy sessions.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

99 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive overview!, July 12, 2002

By 

Andreas Fellner "afellner" (München) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Marriage Clinic: A Scientifically Based Marital Therapy (Norton Professional Books) (Hardcover)

This book by John Gottman deals with nearly all aspects of marital therapy: myths and mistakes, assessment methods, and interventions.
It is strictly research oriented, i.e. Gottman does not follow a special theoretical school such as psychodynamic of cognitive-behavioral marital therapy. His findings from the last 30 years include many diversions from classical marital therapy as well as some really surprising finding. Let me give you just one example: active listening, the core concept of many therapies is NOT fundamental for a good marriage. Actually, even happily married couples very rarely use active listening. This is not to say that active listening is harmful, it is just not necessary for developing and maintaining a happy relationship.
Gottman offers his own version of clinically proven interventions, their respective assumptions and sections for dealing with problems.
This book is aimed for therapists and counselors. They will find a wealth of information, especially a lot of assessment instruments.
Every professional in the area of marital therapy should read this book. You will surely find many recommendations. After all, it's the clients' health you are serving. Gottman's interventions have proven to be greatly beneficial for couples: his clients divorce half as often as clients treated with traditional marriage therapy.
That alone should be reason enough to actively use his methods.
The interested lay person should read Gottman's book "The 7 principles for making marriage work" which explains his findings in easy to understand language.
By and large, this book is an excellent example of a professional resource book!

108 of 109 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Profound view of marital therapy, February 5, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Marriage Clinic: A Scientifically Based Marital Therapy (Norton Professional Books) (Hardcover)

This remarkable book advances the understanding of what works in marital and, I believe, family therapy. Early chapters review marital theories, and how they lived up to their assumptions when tested through well designed research. Gottman presents a very respectful attitude toward the marital couple and emphasizes the importance of honoring the goal of establishing and supporting the couple's self sufficiency. The chapter titled Buffering Children From Marital Conflict is an insightful introduction into how to help parents develop the tools to strenghten their children's resilience. As a person who has worked with at risk children and families for 17 years and has recently completed a masters degree in mental health counseling, I have read my share of family counseling books. From Satir to Whitaker to Lang to Minuchen(sp)... (you get the point). This is by far the best book on the subject!

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional!, January 12, 2008

By 

Dr. B "Wisecracker" (Bethesda, MD United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Marriage Clinic: A Scientifically Based Marital Therapy (Norton Professional Books) (Hardcover)

At last there is an answer to the question I've been asking since beginning my studies in psychology--"Isn't there anything ELSE?" There are many schools of thought that reign in fiefdoms of psychology, including systems theory, behaviorism, Imago, and psychodynamic to name a few. Each is dogmatic, and when tested across research studies, all can benefit patients (despite zealous claims to the contrary by the priesthoods in each camp). However, until I read The Marriage Clinic, I was not aware that our field has shown such poor results in the area of marital therapy. While individual psychotherapy tends to work, Gottman sites research to show that marital therapy does not create lasting change. This is serious.

Our current state of the art in marital and family therapy tends include unsatisfying, unnatural, and even ridiculous, techniques for clinicians to use with people facing the problem of how to improve their marriage. Thank goodness for people like Gottman, who actually collect data to inform decisions, and use common sense and humanity to understand and apply those findings. I see Gottman as our field's greatest living visionary, whose research and relationship building techniques will hopefully spread to parent-child relationships and IO psychology as well.

As to this book specifically, don't get it unless you are a clinician. If you are looking to help your own marriage, I suggest The Seven Principals of Making Marriage Work, which is very user friendly. The Marriage Clinic is quite technical in parts, and can be dense, however it is a very fun read. Gottman's personality and humor come through loud and clear. I found myself laughing out loud at times. I confess I enjoy how he exposes the senselessness of so much of the techniques we currently utilize, and backs it up with meticulous research. This book begins with a solid lit review, a discussion of Gottman's basic ideology and rationale, and then goes into the nuts and bolts of how to apply his ideas.

Even if you are not a marital therapist, it will change the way you look at relationships. He teaches a new vocabulary for describing what you are observing in relationships that I find exceptionally helpful. I would recommend this to anyone conducting psychotherapy, as it will improve your ability to make inferences about your patient's relationships. I also enjoyed the case vignettes very much. If you like Gottman, I highly recommend his books on parenting as well.