Author: Trish Purnell-Webb

Trish Purnell-Webb is an Australian clinical psychologist who became the first certified Gottman therapist in Australia in 2013. She then continued her training to become the first master trainer and consultant for the Gottman Institute in Australia in 2015. She has been in private practise as a psychologist since 1997 after a twenty-year career in organisational training and development in both government and corporate organisations while also raising three children with the help of her husband, Mark. Trish has always been fascinated by the impact relationships have on our sense of well-being and satisfaction, whether they are work relationships or intimate relationships. In her work providing executive coaching to senior members of organisations throughout Australia, she came to understand that intimate relationships had a profound effect on an individual’s ability to perform in life. This led her to explore the question “How can we help people have more successful relationships?” It also led her to the research work of John and Julie Gottman, and her fate was sealed. Since 2009, Trish has focussed on working with couples both in her private practise in Burleigh Heads, Queensland, Australia, and on training therapists throughout Australia, New Zealand, and Asia to become more effective in successfully working with couples. Along with her business partner, John, Trish also runs couple workshops across Australia and New Zealand using the evidenced-based Art and Science of Love Couples Workshop developed by John and Julie Gottman. Trish conceived of this book as a resource for couples to use as a relapse prevention tool after they complete either a workshop or couples therapy with Gottman-trained therapists. Trish still lives on the Gold Coast with her husband of forty-one years and is the proud grandmother of five beautiful grandchildren to whom she devotes much of her time. John Flanagan is a mental health accredited social worker in private practise, completing his bachelor’s of social work in 1988 and later a master’s in gestalt therapy. He was the first social worker to become a certified Gottman therapist in Australia in 2015, and he became the second master trainer and consultant in 2019. John has had an extensive history in direct service delivery with couples, families, and young people, as well as in organisational development and training. He has developed a practise that utilises a range of experiential therapies combining these approaches in his work style. John has also completed his Certificate IV in workplace training and assessment and has delivered a broad range of training, both accredited and non-accredited. John knows the incredible value in attending to relationships, as well as the importance of how they are formed, maintained and developed. In over thirty years of working within complex environments and relationships, he has developed a strong speciality in understanding and guiding complex interactions and relationships. He has provided training to many individuals and human service organisations in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and the United States about creating positive work cultures, managing challenging clients, resilience, and communication. Over the last twenty years, John has provided a range of psycho-educational group programs to Australian veterans and their families in areas such as trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and resilience.