Nancy D. Young

As a Certified Gottman Therapist and Master Trainer for The Gottman Institute, Dr. Young regularly teaches their clinicians’ track, Levels 1, 2, and 3, serves as a Consultant for therapists pursuing certification, and leads the Art & Science of Love Couple’s Workshops. In her private practice she has seen thousands of couples in all stages of relationship (dating, pre-marital, married/cohabitating, transitioning to parenthood, post-affair, divorced) in couple’s counseling, marathon therapy, and workshop formats.

Dr. Nancy owns and runs, Pathways to Wellness, a multi-specialty private practice which includes six therapists and three therapy dogs, all of whom have some training in Gottman Method couple’s therapy, in Costa Mesa, California. She is passionate about diversity as she believes that every relationship is a cross-cultural and transpersonal experience.

“Current research studies have now shown us that good relationships have the capacity to heal and elevate every aspect of our lives, to reduce fear and physical pain, to lessen depression, to increase productivity and creativity, to lower blood pressure, to extend our lives, and make them happier and much more fun. In a time when so many of us are longing for community, I find it surprising that we don’t teach more about how to actually do great relationships starting at least by early high school, especially now that we have great research from the Gottmans and others to give us such clear, easy-to-apply tools!”

*Accepting New Certification Candidates*

You might be thinking, “I feel pretty awkward about this videotaping thing and I really hate to be watched, especially when I’m learning something new!” if so, you’re not alone. One of the things Nancy loves most about the Gottman model is that it’s so collaborative and respectful. The model honors the experience and intellect of all clinicians interested in the Gottman work. From the beginning, John and Julie have incorporated the best of other models in the work and encouraged CGTs to contribute to a growing understanding about how to best help couples. They have urged us all to bring our individual artistry, informed by science, to their work. Nancy is collaborative, by nature, so that appeals to her.

Starting in the late 1970’s, Nancy’s work has been about couples and romantic love: how people do love… not just how they “should” love. She videotaped all her clients doing everything all through the 1980s and she took copious notes on dating behaviors. She studied most of the models around, and then Nancy stumbled on the Gottman work in the late 1990s, she was in love with it immediately! It wasn’t armchair philosophy… It was/is, at its core, an empirically-based study of how people actually do love… how they do it gracefully and how they do it awkwardly.

Nancy has been a full-time clinician for over thirty years, twenty of which she also taught at Chapman University part-time, and she is a CAMFT Certified Supervisor for MFT Interns. She loves teaching, mentoring, and collaborating on case consultations. Nancy teaches Gottman Levels 1, 2, and 3 trainings and put on the Art & Science of Love Couple’s Workshop several times a year, all in Southern California.

Nancy is available for individual consultation and open to group consultation inquiries. You can contact Nancy directly through her Gottman Referral Network profile here.