“It takes two to know one” Gregory Bateson

 

Humans are social beings that profoundly rely on the proximity and help of others to feel comfort and joy. For many adults, their romantic relationship is the most central and lasting social relationship, one of great psychological and physiological significance.

 

In our lab, we seek to understand the implications of various relational processes – e.g., responsiveness, dyadic stress, conflict, capitalization, support, empathy – for partners’ wellbeing. We are also interested in elucidating the interpersonal dynamics that facilitate or hinder changes within relational interventions and couple therapy. We see couple therapy, in which partners interact with each other in an intensive, emotionally laden atmosphere as

a great opportunity to delve into the processes that facilitate intrapersonal as well as interpersonal growth.

 In our research, we place special emphasis on partners’ emotional dynamics as the driving

force behind partners’ interactions and experiences.

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