At Harmony Psychology, our couples therapy is structured to provide clarity, support, and practical tools for your relationship. The process typically includes:

• Initial Joint Session (1 hour): Meet together to discuss your relationship history, current concerns, and goals for therapy.

• Individual Sessions (1 hour each): Each partner meets separately with the therapist to explore personal perspectives and individual needs.

• Feedback Session (90 minutes): Review insights from the assessment phase, highlighting relationship strengths and areas for growth, and agree on a personalised treatment plan.

• Treatment Sessions (90 mins): Focused sessions using Gottman Method interventions, equipping you with practical skills to strengthen your connection and manage challenges together.

Assessment and Goal Setting

The first phase of therapy is a thorough and clinical assessment conducted over three sessions. This phase helps us understand your relationship’s strengths, challenges, and patterns, and sets the foundation for effective therapy. It includes:

1. Joint Initial Intake Session – Both partners meet together to discuss relationship history, current concerns, and therapy goals.

2. Gottman Online Questionnaires – Each partner completes detailed assessments designed to identify communication patterns, conflict styles, emotional connection, and areas of stress within the relationship.

3. Two Individual Assessment Sessions – Each partner meets separately with the therapist to explore personal perspectives, individual needs, and underlying issues that may impact the relationship.

At the end of this phase, we provide a clear feedback summary and collaboratively establish therapy goals tailored to your relationship.

Phase Two begins with a joint feedback session, where we review the insights gained from the in-depth assessment phase. This session highlights your relationship’s strengths, identifies key areas of struggle, and establishes a tailored treatment plan.

Following this, couples work together with the therapist to develop practical skills for improving communication, managing conflict, and strengthening emotional connection. Using the Gottman Method, this phase focuses on:

• Enhancing communication – learning to express needs and listen effectively without escalating conflict

• Conflict management – identifying destructive patterns and practicing constructive problem-solving

• Increasing positive interactions – fostering moments of appreciation, affection, and shared meaning

• Emotional attunement – deepening empathy, understanding, and responsiveness to each other’s feelings

Phase Two equips couples with tools they can immediately apply in daily life, helping to reduce tension and increase connection while building a foundation for lasting intimacy.

Phase Three focuses on intervention sessions using targeted, research-based Gottman techniques designed to address your specific relationship challenges. Each session provides practical tools and strategies that you can take away and implement in your daily life.

This phase typically involves:

• Applying Gottman interventions – techniques tailored to reduce conflict, rebuild trust, and enhance emotional connection

• Deepening intimacy and closeness – exercises to strengthen friendship, admiration, and shared meaning within your relationship

• Addressing ongoing challenges – working through recurring issues and patterns that were identified in the assessment phase

• Practical take-home strategies – actionable skills to practice between sessions to reinforce growth and connection

The goal of Phase Three is to actively repair areas of strain, strengthen your bond, and equip you with tools to create a more resilient and fulfilling partnership.

• Session are weekly.

• Sessions are billed according to the hourly rate for sessions longer then 1 hour.

• Couples therapy does not attract a rebate under a Mental Health Plan.