Relationship Groundwork Course

“Love seems the swiftest, but it is the slowest of all growths.”

— Mark Twain

Over the course of love, we are perpetually challenged to walk a tightrope between being our own person and being part of a relationship. Over time, wrestling with these sides becomes increasingly challenging, and in efforts to cope we unknowingly enter into hurtful patterns and cycles. Suddenly, we reach a point at which we wonder how exactly we got to this place to begin with.

Most romantic relationships follow a predictable trajectory, and yet we’re rarely taught the tools and skills necessary for the several phases that follow the initial. This course is designed as a preemptive measure—to future proof a relationship before patterns become entrenched and destructive.  

Designed for

  • Engaged couples

  • Newlyweds

  • Couples considering marriage or long-term commitment

This course is for you if…

  • You want guidelines to lay a solid foundation and build a successful partnership upon

  • You’re interested to learn about where things are likely to go askew in your unique relationship

  • You want tools to avoid future relational distress

  • You have specific issues you’d like to work through before a longer term commitment

  • You’ve entered into a long-term commitment and you’re beginning to feel disillusioned

If this resonates with you, you’re in the right place. This 3-hour tailored course offers you and your partner a space to explore your relationship in 13 key areas and prepares you with handouts on skills and practices to take forward.

  • Book a 15-minute discovery call to get your questions answered and better understand if this is a good fit for your relationship.

  • $4,000 HKD | Online or In-person

  • Is there anything we need to complete ahead of time? Yes, there is a questionnaire that I will send to you at least 2 weeks before your first session that needs to be individually completed and returned to me at least 4 working days before getting started.

    Can we break the course up into parts? Yes, the course can be broken up into two 1.5 hour sessions.

    Can we extend the course time? You may add-on additional sessions if at the end of the 3-hour course you are wanting to learn about a specific topic in more depth or further discuss an area with your partner.

The Developmental Model

The Developmental Model of Couples Therapy is based on Ellyn Bader and Peter Pearson’s research that began in the 1980s and continues to this day at the Couples Institute. Rather than taking a pathology focused approach, their work emphasizes the role of development in relationships and works with couples to understand how their relationship changes as partners spend more time together and develop as a team.

This course is modelled after Bader and Pearson’s model and was created by their student, Cate Heffernan. It follows an assessment process that entails a questionnaire that individuals must fill out before getting started.

Books for Couples

The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work by John Gottman and Nan Silver

Filled with exercises, this book can help assess your current relationship, and guide you toward repair where necessary. It’s filled with practical information. I ask all couples to purchase this book as a supplement to therapy.

Hold Me Tight by Sue Johnson and Sandra Burr

This book allows you to identify and understand patterns, or “dances”, in your relationship. A breath of relief when you realize other couples find themselves in similar conflicts as well.

Passionate Marriage: Keeping Love and Intimacy Alive in Committed Relationships by David Schnarch

Finally, a book that emphasizes the importance of facing one’s own anxieties and self definition in order to keep passion and intimacy alive in a long term relationship.

Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science that Will Transform Your Sex Life by Emily Nagoski

Easy to digest, Nagoski helps put myths about intimacy to rest while helping couples better understand and navigate the science behind their physical connection.

I Hear You: The Surprisingly Simple Skill Behind Extraordinary Relationships by Michael S. Sorensen

Everyone wants to be understood, so how do we do it? This book helps you grasp the most valuable skill for any partnership: validation.

The Course of Love by Alain de Botton

A beautiful story of love after “love”. Botton writes about a couple who go through various stages of partnership, from their first meeting, to children, and life thereafter.