After you’ve been introduced to the fundamentals of Gottman Method Couples Therapy presented in Level 1 Training, the Level 2 Training will expand your assessment strategies and intervention techniques. This is the next step toward certification and designation as a Certified Gottman Therapist.

At the completion of Level 2 Training, you should have the clinical familiarity, knowledge, and resources to integrate Gottman Method Couples Therapy assessments and interventions into your clinical work.

Available online and in virtual and in-person training events. Training events are offered and scheduled by Certified Gottman Therapists, Gottman Master Trainers and Gottman Workshop Presenters and can be virtual synchronous or in-person. Please confirm the details for your training event on the individual registration pages.


Training Description

This workshop provides a wealth of information about relationship theory, observation, couple dynamics, relationship assessment, treatment planning, when and how to use interventions, and working with co-morbidities. All materials may be used in clinical settings.

You will view original videos of couples from the famous Gottman “Love Lab,” as well as video of Drs. John and Julie Gottman demonstrating assessment and interventions in real case examples from their private practice. Live workshop participants will practice using the interventions in role play sessions to help gain confidence using them with couples.

This training dives deep into the Gottman Method approach for treating complicated cases involving co-morbidities, including affairs, PTSD, addiction, and domestic violence.

What will I learn in Level 2?

Building on what you learned in the Level 1 Training, you will review how to assess a couple’s Friendship Profile, Conflict Profile, and Shared Meaning Profile. You will be provided with a toolkit of interventions that couples can use as antidotes to the Four Horsemen and soothe physiological flooding. You will apply six modes of changing the Attack/Defend System in a couple’s interactions, and learn how to assist couples in establishing dialogue about their gridlocked conflicts.

You will learn how to select and implement interventions to help couples deepen their Friendship System with rituals of connection, select and implement interventions to help couples create a shared system of values and meaning, and identify and implement five different co-morbidities common to couples using Gottman assessments and interventions.

Click here to read the full workshop outline.

Who is this training for?

This training is for mental health providers, allied professionals and clergy, students and interns, family clinic staff, professors/teachers of couples therapy, researchers in the social sciences, and employee assistance professionals. Completion of Level 1 Training is required.

What is included in the price?

Included in the registration price is a clinical training manual, which contains the core Gottman Method Couples Therapy assessments and interventions. You will be awarded a Certificate of Completion with an assessment score of 80% or better from The Gottman Institute.

  • 500+ page digital Level 2 Clinical Training Manual
  • Gottman Method Couples Therapy Level 2 Training Certificate of Completion
  • Up to 20 CE Hours
  • Eligibility to continue to Level 3 Training

Training Objectives

At the completion of this training, you will be able to:

  • Describe the three qualities every therapist needs.
  • Explain the basics of observation including why it’s important to recognize Emotions on the Human Face, Tension in the Voice, the Importance of Words and the use of the SPAFF coding system.
  • Describe the seven levels of the Sound Relationship House theory.
  • Describe how to recognize Bids and Turning Towards.
  • Explain and demonstrate how to conduct an Oral History Interview.
  • Assess a couple’s “Friendship Profile,” “Conflict Profile,” and “Shared Meanings Profile.”
  • Explain and demonstrate how to use the 3 profiles to choose appropriate interventions for the couple.
  • Describe the use of the core assessments with couples, including the Locke-Wallace, Weiss-Cerretto, Gottman Sound Relationship House Questionnaires, Gottman 19 Areas Checklist, EAQ, SCL-90, Detour Scales, CAGE, b-Mast, and Supplemental Assessments.
  • Formulate a treatment plan and present it to the couple including using the Sound Relationship House model.
  • Develop interventions that couples can use as antidotes to the “Four Horsemen.”
  • Help couples to physiologically soothe when flooded.
  • Select and implement interventions to help deal with conflict.
  • Apply different modes of changing the “Attack/Defend System” in a couple’s interaction.
  • Assist couples to establish dialogue about their gridlocked conflicts.
  • Select and implement interventions to help couples deepen their “Friendship System” with Rituals of Connection.
  • Select and implement interventions to help couples create a shared system of values and meaning.
  • Use and describe the Stress-Reducing Conversation to minimize relapse.
  • Identify and formulate a plan for different co-morbidities common to couples using Gottman Method Couples Therapy Assessment and Intervention.
  • Describe how to apply Gottman Method Couples Therapy to a couple who has experienced an affair.
  • Describe when it is appropriate and inappropriate to use Gottman Method Couples Therapy with a couple dealing with substance abuse.
  • Describe the differences between situational and characterological domestic violence and when it is appropriate and inappropriate to use Gottman Method Couples Therapy with a couple dealing with domestic violence.

Training Reviews

Thousands of clinicians worldwide have completed Level 2 Training in Gottman Method Couples Therapy. Here’s what some of them have said about the workshop.

“It was really a wonderful experience. The presentation took the research information from Level 1 into a clinical application that I can really use in my practice.”

– Anonymous evaluation from San Francisco, CA

“Thank you for all your research and effort in disseminating your valuable tools and discoveries! Your work is profound, concrete, and truly helpful!”

– Anonymous evaluation from Tampa, FL

“Being able to provide meaningful, accurate, and timely marital assessments is important to me, and I find the Gottman assessment model clinically valuable.”

– Anonymous evaluation from Seattle, WA