Michael Basta is a clinical social worker with 30 years experience helping emotionally distressed couples and families to improve their relationships and to develop more effective interpersonal skills. Basta began training as a Gottman Method Couples Therapist in 2002 and this method has become the central focus of his practice.

Currently, Basta primarily sees couples in my practice using Gottman Method; however, Basta also utilizes elements of Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Structural Family Therapy, and Dan Wile’s Collaborative Couples Therapy. Basta believes that one of the strengths of the Gottman Method is its adaptability to complementary methods. In addition to his work as a Gottman Method Couples Therapist, Basta has been providing the Art and Science of Love Workshop (with my colleague Marcia Gomez) three times per year since 2008.

Basta finds it invaluable to be part of the community of Gottman clinicians, as collaboration with my colleagues challenges me to continue to learn and grow as a clinician. Basta is honored to be part of this talented and dedicated group of professionals. One way that Basta maintain his connection with the community of Gottman clinicians is to serve as a Master Teacher at the Gottman’s couples workshops in Seattle, training Gottman Method Therapists to become effective roving clinicians.

Basta believes that consultation is the central process for therapists to integrate Gottman Method into their work. It troubles him that many clinicians seem to think of Gottman Method as being restricted to psycho-education. Basta believes that it is important for those learning Gottman Method to develop an understanding of the potential depth and breadth of the approach in addition to mastering the specific techniques. Further, Basta believes that the consultant-consultee relationship needs to be one of trust and honesty. He believes that it takes some courage for clinicians — who are often used to working in privacy — to expose their work to others through case discussion and video tape review. It is important to develop a relationship of safety and collaboration for the consultation process to be effective.