016 SelfWork: What Is So Hard About Couples Therapy?

Individual therapy can be emotionally difficult, although well worth it. Couples therapy? In some ways, it’s even harder, as two people who are more or less demoralized try to remedy problems that have been around for quite a while. With both nurturing and directness, Dr. Margaret identifies the four major signs of relationship disaster (researched by famous psychologists Julie and John Gottman), lists common misperceptions about therapy, names basic attitudes that can make couples therapy successful, and offers helpful DIY advice. And finally, today’s listener email asks a question about healing after someone commits suicide, something that is tragically occurring more and more in our world.

Here are the links mentioned in the podcast:

Gottman’s four horsemen of the Apocolypse.

Gottman article on the seven principles of good marriage.

The audiobook version of “The Four Agreements.”

The audiobook version of “How To Improve Your Marriage Without Talking About It.”

The audiobook version of “ The Five Love Languages.”

Terrance Real’s book: “I Don’t Want To Talk About It.”

Dr. Margaret’s YouTube interview with a man with suicidal depression.

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