The Gottman Relationship Checkup – Information for Couples
Created by Drs. John and Julie Gottman in collaboration with The Gottman Institute
Retrieved Gottman Connect
This clinical tool consists of 480 questions about friendship; intimacy; sex, romance & passion; how well you know your partner; how you manage emotions and conflict; how you share your values and goals; and what gives meaning to your lives. There are additional questions about parenting, housework, finances, trust, and individual areas of concern.
The questionnaire is completely confidential, fully HIPAA compliant, and your therapist will be the only person to see your responses. By signing Vivian Baruch’s practice information and privacy policy document, you are giving your consent to authorise the use of your personal email address as a source of communication.
The Gottman Relationship Checkup is a breakthrough in couple’s therapy as it allows for a confidential, efficient way for your clinician to complete the evaluation process. By using this new technology, your assessment can be done at any time and in the setting of your choice!
Upon completion, it automatically provides valuable clinical information by pinpointing specific strengths and challenges in your relationship, while also suggesting actionable, research-based recommendations for therapy. You can feel confident in your results.
Drs. John and Julie Gottman created this research-based assessment in collaboration with The Gottman Institute to help couples build a personalized treatment plan with their therapist. Dr. John Gottman is a clinical psychologist who has completed more than 50 years of research on couple relationships, and is recognized as one of the top 10 most influential therapists of the last quarter century. Dr. Julie Gottman is a highly respected clinical psychologist who is sought internationally by the media and clinical organizations as an expert advisor on relationships. Together, they have dedicated their lives to helping couples, and The Gottman Relationship Checkup is the result of this life work.
How it works:
- Accept your invitation. Your therapist will send each of you a separate email inviting you to The Gottman Relationship Checkup.
- Create a private profile. Once you have accepted the email invitation to join The Gottman Relationship Checkup, you and your partner will each create individual, separate profiles.
- Complete the questionnaire. You and your partner will each complete your own questionnaire at your convenience. Stop and start at any time. Neither partner will be able to access the other’s information at any point in the process. In order to preserve the integrity and accuracy of the tool, you are encouraged not to share your responses with each other or log in to your partner’s account. The actual time it takes to complete each assessment varies, but it will take, on average, about two hours.
- Get your results. When you have both completed your individual questionnaires, your therapist will be notified and will be able to securely log in to review your scores and the analysis of your relationship. Your therapist will discuss the results with you and suggest a treatment plan for improving and strengthening your relationship.
FAQ for couples
https://checkup.gottman.com/couple/faq
Where do the questions on the assessment come from? How do we know that answering these questions can actually help our relationship?
Dr. John Gottman is a clinical psychologist who has completed more than 50 years of research on relationships and couples. Dr. Julie Gottman is a clinical psychologist who has extensive experience in private practice and teaching settings. Together, they created this research-based assessment for couples as a method for learning the strengths and challenges of a relationship and subsequently determining a treatment plan.
How long does it take to complete the assessment?
The actual time it takes to complete each questionnaire varies based on individual responses, the complexity of relationship dynamics, and the choice to use optional comment areas to provide additional information about the relationship. However, on average, you can expect it will take between one and two hours to complete the assessment.
If I don’t want to complete it all at once, can I stop and resume later?
Yes! The pace and timing for completing the assessment is entirely up to you. You can answer the questionnaires all in one sitting or work on them over time. If you choose to take a break, simply log out of your profile. When you return, the system will remember where you left off and will resume at that point.
Can my partner and I see one another’s answers while I am completing the assessment?
No. Before you start the assessment, you will each create a separate online profile with a unique login and password. Neither of you can access the other’s information at any time, and we encourage you not to share your login information with your partner to preserve the integrity and effectiveness of the questionnaire.
While taking the assessment, do I have to answer all the questions, or can I skip the ones I don’t want to answer?
For therapy to be successful, it is important that your therapist understands all the issues occurring in the relationship. Keeping this in mind, it is not possible to skip questions or to shorten the assessment. However, many questions have optional comment areas intended for clarification or for further explanation of your responses. These can be used to explain your thoughts about specific questions – positive or negative – and to add any important details you would like your therapist to have about a particular question, topic, or concern.
Will I get a copy of my results?
Yes, your therapist will discuss the results of the entire assessment with you. The three of you will co-create a treatment plan for improving and strengthening your relationship, combining your wishes with your assessment results. Your therapist will share the report with you in your feedback session(s) using screen share & will also email you the report after a detailed discussion.
How do I access The Gottman Relationship Checkup?
A clinician must invite you.
I want to use The Gottman Relationship Checkup to assess my relationship without going to a therapist. Can I do this?
No. The Gottman Relationship Checkup is a tool designed for use by clinicians in a therapeutic setting with couples.
