http://www.aamft.org/imis15/Content/Consumer_Updates/Infidelity.aspx

http://www.aamft.org/imis15/Content/Consumer_Updates/Marriage_Preparation.aspx

During the academic portion of my training, I was taught to view the professional work of a marriage and family therapist as both a science and an art. Perhaps I view it this way because I was educated with both a Bachelors of Arts degree and a Masters of Science degree, or because I am strongly drawn to the scientific research and studies of John Gottman and Brent Atkinson as well as the artistic style of theorists such as Susan Johnson. As a result, I often describe marriage as a metaphorical dance. A marriage is like a dance in that it is comprised of two individual partners who are learning to study and understand their styles, while working towards blending them in a rhythmic harmony. In the therapeutic setting, I see the therapist serving as the musical harmonist and dance choreographer; he/she understands the science of healthy posture for both the individual and the marital system while assisting the couple to learn the subtleties of their unique dance in the aim of creating a harmonious and beautiful symphony through life together. As a therapist, I personally rely on the predictability of success by following John Gottman’s model for a “Sound Marital House Theory” yet I utilize an Emotionally Focused Therapy paradigm to introduce a couples narrative of which is a co-created art form of continuous commitment to work towards an internally motivated common goal for their lives.