LCLC is based on decades of research.
LCLC programs are based on the research of Dr. John Gottman who has conducted the most extensive scientific research available on what makes marriages work.
John Gottman has conducted precise scientific research for over 33 years to explore what keeps couples together and what makes couples good parents. He was the first in the country to examine interaction between partners emotionally, behaviorally and physiologically.
From thousands of hours of videotaped sessions, Dr. Gottman discovered what predicts relationship demise versus success. He watched videos couples talk about events of their day and their conflicts, then followed up with interviews for as many as 14 years afterward to see how the relationship fared. His studies included couples who were newly together, just married, transitioning into parenthood, raising adolescents, becoming empty-nesters and approaching old age.
After viewing over 3,000 couples, Dr. Gottman could predict with over 94% accuracy which couples would stay together and which would separate just by watching 15 minutes of their conversations.
Dr. Gottman then joined with his wife Dr. Julie Gottman, a clinical psychologist with specialties in the treatment of trauma, to translate the skills of the master couples into skills, daily practices and styles of conversation that revolutionized the field of couples therapy and couples education.
About Dr. John Gottman
John Gottman is the author or co-author of 119 published academic articles and 37 books, including:
- The Relationship Cure: A 5-Step Guide for Building Better Connections with Family, Friends, and Lovers (Crown Publishers)
- New York Times bestseller, The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work (Crown Publishers)
- Why Marriages Succeed or Fail…and How You Can Make Yours Last (Simon & Schuster)
- Raising An Emotionally Intelligent Child: The Heart of Parenting (Simon and Schuster)
John's breakthrough research on marriage and parenting has earned him numerous major awards including four National Institute of Mental Health Research Scientist Awards, The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Distinguished Research Scientist Award, The American Family Therapy Academy Award for Most Distinguished Contributor to Family Systems Research, The American Psychological Association Division of Family Psychology and a Presidential Citation for Outstanding Lifetime Research Contribution.
Dr. Gottman is executive director of the nonprofit Relationship Research Institute. He is an emeritus professor of psychology at the University of Washington and founded what the media termed, “The Love Lab”, where much of his research on couples' interactions was conducted.
About Dr. Julie Gottman
Julie Schwartz Gottman has designed and provided marriage workshops, basic and advanced clinicians' trainings, community talks, consultation services and educational products for numerous groups across the country. She is a widely recognized expert for her work with individuals, couples and group psychotherapy treatment. She specializes in work with distressed couples, abuse and trauma survivors, those with substance abuse problems and their partners, as well as cancer patients and their families.
LCLC was too good to be true. I did not want to graduate!“