Gottman Method Couples Therapy
For couples ready to change how they fight — and how they find their way back
Some couples come to counselling wanting to understand what’s underneath their conflict. Others want something more concrete: show us what we’re doing wrong when we argue, and show us what to do instead. If that second sentence sounds like you, the Gottman Method is probably the approach you’ve been looking for — practical, concrete, and built from decades of observational research on what couples who stay happily together actually do differently.
Vista Counselling provides Gottman Method couples therapy in Langley, BC with Dr. Kevin Klassen — a Registered Marriage & Family Therapist, trained in the Gottman Method and counselling couples since 2009 — drawing on its tools alongside Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT) and PACT, in person at our Langley office or online across BC.
It’s not whether you argue. It’s how you repair.
What the Gottman Method Is
The Gottman Method was developed by Drs. John Gottman and Julie Schwartz Gottman, built on decades of research that did something unusual: instead of theorizing about what makes marriages work, they watched thousands of real couples interact — argue, repair, reach for each other, miss each other — and tracked what distinguished the couples who thrived from the couples who didn’t.
What came out of that research is a map. Certain patterns reliably corrode a relationship — criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling, which the Gottmans call the Four Horsemen. And certain habits reliably protect one: turning toward each other’s bids for attention, repairing quickly after conflict, and maintaining what the Gottmans call a culture of appreciation — the daily work of gratitude and fondness that criticism undoes. Gottman Method therapy teaches couples to recognize the first set and build the second.
What We Work On
Who Does the Work
Dr. Kevin Klassen, PsyD
More than 20,000 clinical hours since 2009. Trained in the Gottman Method, EFT, and PACT — the RMFT designation reflects specific, extensive, supervised training in working with couples and family systems.
What Sessions Look Like
We usually begin with a joint session, and an individual session with each partner — enough to understand the relationship as each of you experiences it, including where things reliably go sideways. What we don’t do is run you through a rigid program: Kevin is trained in the Gottman Method, but he doesn’t practise it as a fixed protocol of questionnaires and scored assessments. He draws on its tools where they fit the two of you.
In practice that means sessions are active. When the pattern shows up in the room — and it will — we catch it there: naming the Horseman that just walked in, practising its antidote, noticing the repair attempt that got missed. And where the fight turns out to be carrying something deeper, we don’t force a tools-first approach — that’s where Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT) and PACT come in, both described on our couples counselling page. The approach is matched to the two of you, and adjusted as we go. You’ll still leave most sessions with something specific to work with — the point of Gottman’s tools is that they outlast the therapy.
Gottman Method FAQs
Is the Gottman Method evidence-based?
Yes — it’s one of the most researched approaches to couples therapy, built on decades of observational studies of real couples and refined through clinical trials by the Gottman Institute and independent researchers. No approach can promise an outcome, but the method’s tools are drawn from research on what distinguishes couples who thrive.
Gottman or EFT — which is right for us?
They’re complementary, and we often use both. Gottman work is more structured and skills-forward — patterns, antidotes, practices. EFT goes underneath the pattern to the attachment question driving it. Couples who want concrete tools often start Gottman-side; couples whose fights feel like something deeper usually start with EFT. Part of the first sessions is deciding this together.
Do you run the formal Gottman assessment and questionnaires?
No. We begin with a joint session and an individual session with each partner, but we don’t use the formal questionnaire-and-scoring protocol. Kevin is trained in the Gottman Method and integrates its tools — the Four Horsemen and their antidotes, repair, the culture of appreciation — into an approach shaped around the two of you, alongside EFT and PACT. If you’re specifically looking for the full structured Gottman program, we’re happy to say so plainly: that’s not how we practise.
How long does it take?
It depends on what you’re carrying and how long the pattern has run. After the first few sessions — once we’ve seen the pattern from both sides — we can usually give you an honest sense of scope, rather than promising a number in advance.
What does it cost?
Sessions are 50 minutes. The fee is $200 per session. Many extended health plans reimburse Registered Clinical Counsellors — check whether your plan covers RCCs or RMFTs. Full details, including our cancellation policy, are on our FAQ page.
Is this right for us if there’s been violence or intimidation?
Not usually, and not as a first step. Where there’s violence, intimidation, or coercion, we’d start with individual support instead. If this is your situation, VictimLinkBC is free, confidential and available 24/7 — call or text 1-800-563-0808.
Gottman Method Couples Therapy in Langley
We see couples at our Langley office — free on-site parking, easy access from Highway 1 — serving Walnut Grove, Brookswood, Murrayville, Surrey, Cloverdale, Aldergrove, and the wider Fraser Valley, in person and online across BC. Directions are on our location page.
Wondering whether this approach fits the two of you? Contact us with your questions or book an appointment online — we respond within 1–2 business days.
Related Services at Vista
Gottman Method therapy is one of three approaches in our couples counselling work — alongside EFT and PACT — and it’s central to how we approach marriage counselling. When what keeps derailing the tools is something one of you carries alone, individual counselling may run alongside the couples work.