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2021 with Intentions - by John Flanagan Certified Gottman Therapist, Master Trainer and Consultant
20 December 2020 / Relationship Help / Relationship Institute Australasia / Gottman Marital Therapy / Art & Science of Love Couples Workshops / Bringing Baby Home
What a tremendous opportunity we are presented with as we take time to rest and gather with friends and family and to make meaning of the year just past. What we believed to be important and took for granted in the beginning of the year radically changed in March. Unquestionably, 2020 was a struggle for many people, families and relationships and, through necessity, 2020 allowed us to strip back our deeply held values and priorities in life (for some it seemed to be toilet paper)! Priorities like safety, security, health, connection, time together, appreciation and gratefulness emerged as repeated themes.
View articleGoodbye 2020 - By John Flanagan. Certified Gottman Marital Therapist, Master Trainer and Consultant
25 November 2020 /
Well, how to describe this year without using words like unprecedented, lockdowns, COVID 19, pandemic, strain, and stress. Ok, so I don’t think it is possible. 2020 has been a beast of year that has drained our resources on all levels. Families and friends separated from each other, support networks and activities reduced or reconfigured for much of the population at different times throughout the year. Jobs ] lost, the economy dipped into recession for the first time in 30 years, and many people have used their superfunds to stay afloat. People are seeking support of psychological and relationship services in numbers never seen before. Co-existing with this, 2020 has created opportunities to build resilience and adjust our lives and to reflect on what is important, what we want more of, less of and what we want to change.
View articleWhat’s up with CHANGE? By Trish Purnell-Webb. Clinical Psychologist, Certified Gottman Therapist, Master Trainer & Consultant
12 October 2020 / For therapists / Relationship Help / Gottman Marital Therapy / Art & Science of Love Couples Workshops
Words like ‘change’, ‘unprecedented’, ‘crazy’, have been thrown around daily in our lives over the past 7 months. COVID, shut-down, quarantine, isolation have become conditions we have had to learn to live with. They have all become associated with negative feelings, fear, hopelessness, and most of us feel like we are in a constant state of survival. This is a very hard way to live and yet we are managing it. The conditions that have led to this state of affairs have changed irrevocably how we will live in the future - greater awareness on hygiene, social distancing, management of viral illness both at a macro and micro level. On top of that, we are also aware that trying to go back to our old ways leads to community relapse and results in a re-emergence of infections, loss and distress.
These same conditions can be found when we take a look at relationships that begin to struggle.
Understanding the Stages of Lifetime Love - By John Flanagan. Certified Gottman Marital Therapist, Master Trainer and Consultant
26 May 2020 /
Love can bring with it an intoxicating and powerful mix of emotions and chemicals that change a person’s perspectives, thinking, and feelings instantaneously. Love can turn people into writers and poets and into gentler, more empathetic, and attentive versions of themselves, but as we know, love doesn’t always work. We are all too familiar with the frequent stories of failed love, people reporting the honeymoon suddenly ending, and noticing all the annoying habits of the other. With conflict escalating the relationship soon falls apart.
Can current research shed light on what is happens to love?
Living Together in the time of Coronavirus by Trish Purnell-Webb
15 April 2020 /
By now you have mastered hand-washing, social distancing and staying at home as much as possible and even though it’s only been a few weeks my guess is it already feels endless. Uncertainty is a nerve wracking state to live in, even for a short time. So many questions, so few answers. This situation, on top of the increased intensity of living more closely together for more prolonged periods with our loved ones can feel overwhelming and put more pressure on our relationships.
View articleCOVID-19 and Relationships by John Flanagan. Certified Gottman Therapist, Master Trainer and Consultant
22 March 2020 /
The COVID-19 pandemic impact is unprecedented. Our country, our planet has never experienced such a widespread contraction of an infectious condition since the Spanish Flu in 1918. Everyday information is coming to light about the rate of infections, globally and locally new restriction are enforced, borders are closing down, the movement of people limited, gatherings large and now small are outlawed, some industries such as tourism and hospitality have been decimated, supermarket shelves are being emptied as fast as they are filled, with media coverage reporting panic buying and fear.
View articleMaking Life Dreams Come True By Trish Purnell-Webb, Clinical Psychologist, Certified Gottman Method Couples Therapist, Master Trainer and Consultant
25 November 2019 /
I was recently having a conversation with a couple about what brought them to therapy. Pat was saying, “I don’t really know. I know it was my idea to come, but now that we are here I don’t quite know how to explain it. I just feel, I don’t know, like stunted or something.”
On further exploration, what Pat was saying was that while their relationship seemed, on the surface, to be successful, there was something missing – a sense of individuality, a sense of personal growth, personal achievement and a sense of thriving.
The Transition to Parenthood - What to expect and what can you do! By Bringing Baby Home Educator Kylie-Jo Elliott
16 October 2019 / Relationship Help / Gottman Marital Therapy / Bringing Baby Home
In the first session of the Gottman Bringing Baby Home Program, couples are asked the somewhat mandatory 'transition to parenthood' questions.
1. What words would you use to describe how you see the transition to parenthood?
2. What physical changes do you feel you will experience?
3. What psychological changes do you feel you will experience?
For many couples, this is the first time they will get to think about how they might answer these questions. New parents have a generalised notion about some of the changes that may occur, but they almost always involve the baby or personal changes. Very rarely do couples think about the impact of the transition to parenthood on THEM and their partnership.
Understanding Flooding - by John Flanagan. Certified Gottman Therapist, Master Trainer & Consultant
17 September 2019 / Relationship Help / Gottman Marital Therapy
Through the 45 years of continuous Gottman research, we have learned a lot about conflict and conflict management. It turns out that conflict management is not just about what and how we communicate with our partners using gentle start-ups, making repairs and accepting influence but also about what our body and brain are doing during conflict. John Gottman noticed in his research that when couples conflict escalated it was not only their words, tone, and volume that escalated it was also their heart rates and the amount of stress hormones being secreted. We call this Flooding or Diffuse Physiological Arousal. The research findings were compelling.
View articleLet’s Talk Marathon Therapy
13 August 2019 / For therapists / Relationship Help / Gottman Marital Therapy
Marathon therapy is an intensive form of couples therapy. It can come in many forms depending on the individual therapist’s preferences and approaches. Generally speaking though marathon couples therapy is not that different from standard weekly or fortnightly couples therapy, it just all gets done in a couple of days and creates a more emotionally intense process for the couple. So how do we do it?
At Relationship Institute Australasia we have been offering marathon therapy for the last 6 years and have found a process that seems to work well for both us and for our couples. Like standard couples therapy there are still 3 phases that we take each couple through.