Seven principles for making marriage work

Improve friendship, intimacy, and connection in your relationship with a Seven Principles Workshop. Workshops are based on Dr. John Gottman’s New York Times-bestselling book, The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work, written after 40 years of internationally acclaimed research. The principles are:

Enhance your love maps. Happy couples are familiar with their partner’s world, tuned into everything from a favorite meal to current stressors, dreams and aspirations. Knowing and acting on this information keeps you connected.

Nurture your fondness and admiration. Two of the most essential elements of a long-term, satisfying relationship are respect for and a positive view of each other. Activities that help remind you why you chose your partner in the first place reinforce these elements.

Turn toward each other instead of away. Romance is sustained in small acts of everyday kindness, which remind your partner he or she is valued and loved and provide a healthy basis for connection and passion.

Let your partner influence you. Happy couples are a team that honors and respects each individual’s feelings and perspective, actively seeking out common ground and making decisions—small and large—together.

Solve your solvable problems. Clearly identify conflicts that can be solved and those that cannot—and learn a healthy and respectful five-step method for working through them.

Overcome gridlock. Perpetual problems can be addressed through transitioning from gridlock to dialogue, which allows couples to remove some of the emotional hurt from ongoing conflict.

Create shared meaning. Happy couples create an inner life and culture that sustains their relationships beyond having children, splitting chores, and the other logistics of daily life.