As the final, bonus session in the Couples Therapy: Today and Tomorrow series, John Gottman, renowned for his breakthrough research on marriage and parenting, will explore how couples can be there for each other, despite inevitable difficulties and differences. Gottman will cover the core skills in the three primary contexts of a couple’s relationship, methods to help couples develop attunement skills, ways to interrupt destructive relational cycles, and more.

After this presentation, please take a few minutes to reflect on what was striking to you about this particular session, how it fits in with the series in its entirety, and how you feel after participating in this couples therapy course and hearing such diverse perspectives. What do you think was most interesting or made the most sense? What questions remain for you? Do you have any relevant experiences to share?

We encourage you to comment on this session and about the series as a whole, as this kind of engagement and participation is central to deeper learning and understanding. Thank you for your participation, and we hope you come away from this course with a better sense of where the couples therapy field is and where it might be going in the future.

“Do you trust me?” What a question to propose to a significant other or a friend. Maybe they’ll respond with “Yes, of course,” but when it really comes down a situation that requires absolute trust, they won’t. John Gottman’s keynote speech, based on research published in his most recent book The Science of Trust, covered the scientific data behind trusting one another—something that’s vital to the success of a romantic relationship, and that impacts so much else in daily life.

“Trust is the number one issue with struggling couples,” Gottman said, “And trustworthiness is the number one most desirable trait.”

Over the years, one important source of this sense of discovery has been the remarkable roster of speakers who have addressed the meeting, a group that over the years has included important figures like Maya Angelou, Elie Wiesel, Mario Cuomo, and Gloria Steinem. The group of featured speakers who will be presenting at the 2011 Symposium will hardly disappoint.

Opening this year’s Symposium will be MIT professor Sherry Turkle, a psychologist and anthropologist who’s spent the past 30 years studying the pervasive psychological impact of digital communications technologies on our lives. For a taste of her illuminating insights, click here to read an interview with her from the January issue of the Networker. You can also watch a video featuring Turkle on the process by which “we make our objects and our objects make us,” as she’s said.

On Saturday morning, poet David Whyte, a mesmerizing speaker and story-teller, will bring his unique powers of expression and vision to the task of describing the courage and creativity needed for “Crossing the Unknown Sea” into the uncertain future this year’s Symposium will explore. If you’re not familiar with David, just click here for a Networker profile of him and his work. You can also watch a brief excerpt from his unforgettable 2009 Symposium presentation to see him in action.

Finally, Sunday begins with an address by renowned therapist John Gottman on “The New Science of Trust.” At a time when the fabric of society seems to be irreversibly fraying, he’ll describe the crucial therapeutic significance of his latest research on enhancing human trust and connection. For an overview of John’s crucial contribution to the couples therapy field, check out this Networker article featuring him and his work or take a sneak peek at John in action here.

This blog will continue to give you a close-up view of the people and events coming up at this year’s Symposium that we think deserve your special attention, whether or not you decide to attend. Stay tuned on Fridays for more of our Symposium Countdown.

Rich Simon,
Editor, Psychotherapy Networker