Speaker Specialization: ADHD

Mike became a Certified Gottman Relationship Therapist in 2005. Since that time, he has led all 3 levels of Gottman trainings at The University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration’s Professional Development Program. He has also presented Chicago area Gottman Art and Science of Love Workshops, at least twice per year, since 2007. Mike founded The Chicago Relationship Center in 2014, which offers Gottman trainings and workshops, and has produced workshops led by Dan Wile, PhD.

Mike has taught at the doctorate level for over a decade. He was an affiliate professor at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology and is currently a visiting instructor at The Institute for Clinical Social Work. He has taught couple therapy, psychopathology, international intervention, and trauma and attachment disorders. His other areas of clinical expertise include the emotional aspects of attention deficit disorder and learning disabilities.

Mike’s international training efforts have focused on Sri Lanka. Since the tsunami of 2004, he has traveled to Sri Lanka twice per year (21 times to date) to teach Sinhalese and Tamil lay counselors courses on basic counseling skills. He received Fulbright Specialist grants for his work in 2010, 2014, and 2015. He was one of the first Gottman therapists to lead Gottman trainings in a foreign country, and made presentations on his international training efforts at Gottman Conferences.

In additional, Mike has made presentations on The Gottman Method in the Chicago area at the Northshore University Health System’s Grand rounds, The Center on Halsted, and Illinois Psychological Association’s annual conference,  and other area hospitals and agencies.

His publications include “Dyslexia and the Life Course”, a feature article summarizing his research in the Journal of Learning Disabilities.

His teaching style is very collaborative. He hopes to help participants master the Gottman Method in a relaxed atmosphere, where they feel comfortable discussing concepts and sharing case examples.

*Accepting New Certification Candidates*

Mike has over twenty years of experience as a clinical consultant. He enjoys working with Consultees who work with challenging situations. He approaches clinical work with a realistic and thoughtful perspective, hoping to connect with clients and couples in an empathetic and sensitive manner. Mike attempts to help his Consultees achieve these same goals, using the Gottman Method. In addition, Mike helps Consultees identify and pursue goals for professional growth and development. He particularly enjoys trying to blend or integrate the Gottman Method with other theories, such as psychoanalytic approaches and Emotion Focused Therapy.

You can contact Mike directly to learn about his pricing and more through his Gottman Referral Network profile here.

*Accepting New Certification Candidates*

Caralee is a fully immersed Gottman Couples therapist and loves the emphasis on research from the beginning. She is a “show me the research” gal! As an LCSW, Caralee was first licensed in CA in 2002, then in CO in 2004. After working part time at an agency, she opened her private practice. In 2019, she expanded to a small group practice, where all of her fabulous clinicians use the Gottman Method as their primary methodology.

Caralee originally thought she would be working with children and adolescents, but soon learned that when the parents’ aren’t doing well, everything else was much harder. She searched for reliable, evidence based ways to work with parents/couples and found Dr. John Gottman in 2003, when she attended a Level 1 training with him. Caralee was hooked! Suddenly, couples work seemed doable and not so overwhelming! She used Level 1 for 6 years before taking Level 2 and then moved steadily towards being certified in 2013. Because Caralee had used the model for so many years, she finished certification in a relatively short time – less than a year. She always encourages people to use the tools, immerse yourself in the method, get familiar with it before entering the Certification Track, because of her own experience.

She had the opportunity to rove in Seattle a number of times, as the Gottman’s presented the “Art and Science of Love” couples workshop, and in 2014 Caralee was the first to bring it to CO, where she has presented it several times per year ever since. In 2017 she began training clinicians in the Gottman Method. She is a trainer for Levels 1, 2 and 3, which she loves doing – especially in person! In 2019, she took the trainings and the ASL to HI, as well.

Caralee has a sub-specialty working with couples in recovery for sexual compulsions/addictions/betrayals and is Certified in Partner Betrayal Trauma. She is a Certified Sex Addiction Recovery Therapist (SRT) through AASAT since 2014. Caralee is trained in EMDR and uses it frequently in her practice. She is also Certified in Discernment Counseling (2020) through the Dougherty Relationship Institute for “couples on the brink” of separation/divorce.

Caralee was nervous to start the Certification Track! As a verifiable “technophobe”, the idea of recording her sessions, editing, and sharing them was intimidating in itself, not to mention having someone else critique her work. However, she had a great experience, with a lot of support and encouragement, as well as clear guidelines on what to focus on to successfully reach certification. Caralee’s years as part of The Gottman Institute community has reinforced the supportive, encouraging experience she had with her consultant. Caralee’s hope is to offer an equally supportive, encouraging, and helpful experience to those with whom she consults, and continue to pass on the spirit of The Gottman Institute, from which she has so greatly benefited.

You can contact Caralee directly to learn about her consultation pricing and more through her Gottman Referral Network profile here.