Marriage Counseling Toolkit: 30 Couples Therapy Worksheets

While research confirms that marriage leads to increased life satisfaction, it is not without its challenges (Boyce, Wood, & Ferguson, 2016).

Indeed, according to the American Psychological Association (2020), between 40 and 50 percent of marriages in the United States end in divorce.

Nevertheless, there are many approaches, often relatively straightforward, that have been shown to improve relationships. Research has identified that even increasing the number of positive interactions over negative ones can improve marriage stability (Budiharto, Meliana, & Rumondor, 2017).

Whether facilitated through one-to-one therapy, books, or mobile apps, the marriage counseling tools and approaches discussed in this article can strengthen marriage’s emotional bonds and improve overall relationship satisfaction.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Positive Relationships Exercises for free. These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or your clients build healthy, life-enriching relationships.

20 Helpful Questions for Your Sessions

In Gottman and Silver’s excellent book, The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work (1999), John Gottman describes how, after observing a couple’s interaction for only 15 minutes, he can predict the likelihood that they will remain together.

And, surprisingly, he is almost always right. When researchers tested his predictions, he was 91% accurate.

So, based on decades of research and interviewing thousands of couples, what did he conclude was the secret behind a happy marriage?

“Happily married couples aren’t smarter, richer or more psychologically astute than others,” he says. It is simpler than that. In successful marriages, partners are more positive than negative about one another. And this emotional intelligence can be seen, even in relatively short interactions. After all, a positive attitude radiates through all areas of the relationship: play, romance, learning, and adventure.

With that in mind, marriage counseling provides a vital opportunity to observe couples’ interactions, assess where conflict arises, and agree on the steps required to meet both partners’ needs.

Key questions

The couple should put together a list of questions they have for each other to make the best use of time in each marriage counseling session.

The following questions can be shared during couples therapy, but they should be encouraged to come up with a personalized list in advance of the session:

1. What are the biggest problems in our marriage?
2. Do we want to stay together?
3. Is this a temporary phase (or is it something more permanent)?
4. When did these problems start?
5. Do you believe we can save our marriage?
6. Do you love me, and if so, in what way?
7. What do you love most about me?
8. Do you trust me?
9. Is there anything you don’t trust about me?
10. Are you satisfied with our degree of intimacy?
11. Are you seeing anyone else? Do you want to?
12. Do you feel you can talk to me about anything?
13. Is there anything from our past that still bothers you?
14. Why do you want this to work out?
15. What do you expect from our counseling sessions?
16. Do you see a future?
17. What can I do to make our marriage better?
18. Where do you see our marriage in one/five/ten years?
19. Do you know how much I love/respect/admire you?
20. Are you/we willing to make the changes needed?

Asking questions can help uncover important underlying issues and benefit from the relationship therapy environment’s safety to help the couple discuss, move forward, and overcome their difficulties.

4 Couples Therapy Worksheets for Your Clients

Emotionally intelligent marriages are more likely to succeed. But what do they look like?

While Gottman’s research identified that happy marriages were rarely a perfect union, they all shared several crucial factors.

A happy marriage builds upon (Gottman & Silver, 1999):

• Friendship rather than fighting
  Deep friendship is at the heart of the marriage.
• Sound relationship
  High levels of trust and total commitment maintain the relationship.
• Capacity to repair
  A healthy companionship supports repair following disagreements and conflict.
• Marriage purpose
  A partnership has a purpose, where each supports the other’s hopes and dreams.

On the other hand, when a quarrelsome couple in a less emotionally intelligent marriage is arguing over who should take the trash out, it most likely signifies deeper issues.

According to Gottman, “most marital arguments cannot be resolved.” After all, how can you change another’s fundamental values or personality? Still, learning to understand what underpins disagreements and how to live with them can lead to a happier marriage with shared meaning and a sense of purpose.

So how do we do this?

Working together – completing questionnaires, reading books, or attending counseling sessions – can strengthen marriages, overcome difficulties, and reduce negative attitudes (Gottman & Silver, 1999; Babcock, Gottman, Ryan, & Gottman, 2013).

And yet, there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to couples therapy, so try out the following worksheets with your clients and see what works well. Their success may vary depending on personalities and the state of the marriage.

Seeing the good in a partner

When things are difficult in a relationship and resentments build up, it is easy to forget the qualities we first saw in a partner.

Share the Valuing My Partner Worksheet to remind the client what first attracted them to their partner.

Getting to know your partner

Learning more about your partner early in a relationship (or as part of a building exercise in a long-term relationship) can be fun and rewarding:

• The About Your Partner Worksheet can either be completed during a conversation between partners or independently and used in a subsequent counseling session.
• The Relationship Qualities Worksheet captures what each partner enjoys, what they would like to do in the future, and their longer term goals. Use the questions during couples’ therapy to build a bank of positive feelings and a list of activities to revisit as a couple.

Changing the sentence’s subject

The overuse of “you” during an argument or sensitive conversation can lead to escalation or withdrawal by the other person.

The Turning “You” into “I” spreadsheet helps each partner practice changing the subject of statements from “You” to “I” to avoid blame and facilitate a more reasoned discussion.

Once practiced, the couple can use such statements in the future when discussing sensitive issues with a partner.

3 Activities and Exercises

To provide optimal assistance to your clients, guide them through the following activities and exerices.

Characteristics of successful clients

Marriage counselor Marina Williams has spent countless hours with couples in couple’s therapy seeking help for their marriages. Based on her experience, she provides each with a list of characteristics she has identified in her most successful clients.

Share the following list (modified from Williams, 2012) with your clients. Ask them to review each point and consider whether they can commit to the task:

• Make your appointments a priority.
  The most successful clients attend every appointment.
• Be willing to take risks and try new things.
  You are going to learn new skills, some of which may seem unfamiliar at first. Commit to trying them out.
• Prepare for each session.
  This is a vital opportunity for your marriage; take it. Come prepared with a list of what you want to discuss and any changes since the last session.
• Provide direct and honest feedback.
  Be open and honest about what is and is not working.

History and philosophy of your relationship

Couples sometimes need to reconnect with why they are fond of each other; looking back at their shared history can help.

Ask the couple to complete the Relationship History and Philosophy Questionnaire. Use it to remind the couple why they first got together and how they view marriage (Gottman & Silver, 1999).

Coping with your partner’s pain

Gottman’s extensive work with couples led him to an important conclusion. Happy couples live by the maxim “When you are in pain, the world stops, and I listen.”

The 10 Tips for Coping With Your Partner’s Upset (modified from Gottman & Silver, 1999) can help partners be there and yet maintain their mental wellbeing, whether the negativity is directed at them or someone else.

Assessment Methods and Questionnaires

Getting a solid understanding of where a couple stands in their relationship is a crucial starting point. Have a look at the following assessments.

Couple compatibility and areas of conflict

The Gottman Relationship Checkup questionnaire provides valuable insight into couple compatibility and areas of conflict that require attention.

It compares partners’ scores on several different elements of their relationship, including romance, emotional connection, commitment, values, and goals.

Once both partners have taken the questionnaire (usually it takes about two hours to complete), the therapist reviews the results before offering actionable recommendations.

Assessing marital conflict

Marriage requires balance and understanding between partners; when lost, conflicts arise and needs are forgotten.

As Gottman explains, each person in a marriage brings their own quirks, personalities, opinions, and values. It is, therefore, no surprise that conflicts arise. However, once recognized, it is possible to focus on and adjust coping strategies and regain marital balance.

Most couples are subsequently satisfied with their marriages and are no longer overwhelmed by points of contention (Gottman & Silver, 1999).

The following questionnaires drill down and capture the concerns and issues of each partner for discussion within counseling:

• The Marital Conflicts Questionnaire identifies conflict points and their triggers before exploring potential resolutions and how each partner is left feeling.
• The Resolving Marital Conflicts Questionnaire goes deeper, recognizing successful and unsuccessful coping strategies. Use it during couplea therapy to promote discussion regarding the best approach to resolving conflict in the future.

For example, allow time to think before responding and reduce statements that blame and criticize.

The Sound Relationship House Inspection

Think of your relationship as the infrastructure of a house. There are certain foundational pillars that support your home. In the case of relationships, these are trust, commitment, and friendship. Without these pillars, the house (i.e., your relationship) can collapse (Gottman, 1999).

To visualize this, The Sound Relationship House Theory was developed. This theory distinguishes nine elements of a healthy and nurturing relationship, two of which represent the walls of the house, and seven of them are different levels of the house. These nine elements are:

• You believe your partner has your best interests at heart and that they value you as much as themselves.
• You believe your relationship is a lifelong journey, for better or for worse.
• You are interested in what goes on in your partner’s life, and you know about their current worries, stresses, joys, and dreams.
• You are generally fond of each other and accept and celebrate your differences. You enjoy each other’s interests and points of view.
• You make an effort to turn towards your partner when they try to connect with you.
• Your relationship has a generally positive feeling/vibe. Problems are approached with a sense of positivity and friendliness.
• You and your partner deal with arguments gently, maintaining respect for one another, and use humor at times to keep things light.
• You and your partner support each other’s life goals and dreams.
• Your relationship is a blend of both your values, culture, and beliefs. You are on the same page and navigate life with a sense of unity.

Using these, examine the soundness and stability of your relationship. Ask yourself: Is the foundation of trust and commitment strong enough to hold up the rest of the house levels in your relationship?

Extra Marriage Counseling Tips

Need more? Have a look at the following valuable tips.

The important first session

While marriage counseling is important to you as a professional, it may also be the difference between building a happy marriage or losing your clients’ relationship.

The first session is, therefore, likely to be difficult for a couple. They will be nervous and uncertain about how marriage counseling will affect them.

The following four steps can be built upon or modified as required but offer a useful starting point for your initial meeting with clients (modified from Williams, 2012):

1. Form a connection with the clients. A warm smile and initial small talk can help subsequent engagement in the session. Subtle mimicking of the clients’ body language (so long as it is not inappropriate or aggressive) can make them feel a sense of rapport and similarity.
2. Gather information. Ask each partner what has brought them to counseling, their professions, medical history, and backgrounds. Inquire about the history of their relationship difficulties, specific behaviors, and feelings involved.
3. Educate the clients about the process of marriage counseling. Explain that each session is structured with assignments given out weekly. Allay fears by confirming that you will not be taking sides or judging. It is not about who is right or wrong, but instead is about forgiveness and growing as a couple.
4. Offer hope by expressing confidence that the marriage can be saved. Do not provide guarantees; there are many factors involved, most of which are outside your control. If the couple leaves the first session feeling that things are likely to get better, they will begin to fix what is broken.

Avoid becoming overwhelmed

Whether discussing conflict within the relationship (or outside), it can be enormously beneficial to reach a state of calm. However, using phrases such as “calm down” will have the opposite effect and should be avoided.

Instead, it can be useful to discuss the feelings openly regarding being ‘overwhelmed’ or ‘flooded’:

• What makes us feel overwhelmed? When does it happen?
• Can we change how we bring up issues?
• Do we store up conflict, rather than discuss it?
• What can I do to soothe you?
• What can you do to comfort me?
• Can we develop signals to let each other know when we are feeling flooded?
• Can we agree on an action when flooding happens? For example, take a break.

A Look at Useful Apps

There are many relationship apps available. They include questionnaires, daily challenges, and even provide the opportunity to connect with an online counselor.

We have included four of the best options below. Try them out with your clients and find one that motivates them in a fun way to grow in their relationship:

1. Love Nudge

Love Nudge helps couples find ways to express their love for one another in exciting and fun ways.

The app is based on the New York Times bestseller The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts by Gary Chapman. (Available on Amazon.)

Find it in the Apple App Store or Google Play store.

2. Lasting: Marriage Health

Lasting: Marriage Health is another popular app aimed at nurturing couples’ emotional connection through sessions designed to overcome disagreements while building healthy connections.

Find it in the Apple App Store.

3. ReGain – Couples Therapy and Counseling

The ReGain app enables couples to get on-demand help from relationship counselors. Your client can talk with the counselor on their own or invite their partner through the app.

Find it in the Apple App Store or Google Play store.

Our Useful Resources

We have many tools and exercises available to help clients grow as an emotionally intelligent couple.

As well as being enjoyable and entertaining, they offer deep insight into both the relationship and the individuals involved, leading to the formation of stronger relationship bonds and a more resilient and happy marriage.

Try out the following with clients:

• A valuable skill in any relationship, is being able to manage anger. Use the Anger Exit and Re-Entry Routines worksheet to help couples move from conflict to constructive communication.
• How to Improve Communication in Relationships – 7 Essential Skills is an excellent resource for couples therapy to improve their communication.

In any relationship, healthy communication is a cornerstone of success. To work on improving communication, have a look at these recommended articles:

• Your Complete Nonviolent Communication Guide
• What Is Assertive Communication?
• 49 Communication Activities, Exercises, and Games

A Take-Home Message

Not only are married people more likely to have higher life satisfaction, but they also have lower levels of stress and an increased life expectancy.

However, as with all areas of life, it is easy to become overwhelmed by stress and conflict and lose the ability to see the positives.

And yet, this is where marriage counseling can be of most help. Indeed, there is a wealth of tools and approaches available to strengthen marriage bonds through increased emotional intelligence, communication, coping, and conflict resolution.

However, the challenge as Gottman sees it – based on his wealth of experience – is for therapists to get deep into the heart of what makes a relationship lasting and happy (Gottman & Silver, 1999). While it is crucial to keep communication lines open and improve problem-solving skills in marriage, emotional intelligence must also be fostered.

Use the tools provided with clients to increase the positive interactions, grow closer as a new couple, and recover some of the misplaced love, affection, kindness, and empathy in a longer lasting marriage.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Positive Relationships Exercises for free.