← Groups & Workshops
Couples · Enrichment · In Person
Forming · join the list

Tending What’s Good

Good relationships grow even stronger with a little tending.

A six-week, research-based series to help married and committed couples build friendship and handle conflict well — no crisis required.

When
Weekends · TBD
Length
Six weeks · 90 min
For
Married & committed couples
Language
English · Ukrainian · Russian
Where
182 Tamarack Circle, Skillman, NJ 08558
Approach
The Gottman Method

This is a place to strengthen a good relationship on purpose — to keep the friendship warm, learn a few skills while things are steady, and invest in what’s already working. Think of it as maintenance and growth, not repair.

It’s enrichment, not repair — a warm, low-key space where couples come simply to keep growing closer.

Each evening is a short teaching piece and then private practice, just the two of you — you work with each other, never by disclosing to the room. If deeper work would help, there’s a warm, private path to couples sessions.

♡ ♡ ♡

The six weeks

Built on the Gottman Sound Relationship House — friendship, conflict, and shared meaning.

Week
1

Knowing each other

The friendship foundation — how well you hold your partner’s inner world, and the habit of noticing what you admire in them.
Practice
Open love-map questions as a pair; each names three things you genuinely appreciate.
Home
One appreciation spoken aloud daily.
Week
2

Turning toward

Connection is built less in grand gestures than in tiny bids for attention — and whether we turn toward, away, or against them.
Practice
Spotting your partner’s bids, including the ones you tend to miss.
Home
Catch and turn toward one bid a day.
Week
3

The patterns that hurt

The four patterns that predict trouble — criticism, contempt, defensiveness, stonewalling — and the concrete antidote to each.
Practice
Privately name which one is yours under stress — not your partner’s.
Home
Notice your own pattern once, without fixing it.
Week
4

Repair and de-escalation

What to do when it’s already going sideways: repair attempts, softened start-up, and why we can’t think when we’re flooded — and how the twenty-minute break really works.
Practice
Build a shared list of repair phrases that land for the two of you.
Home
Agree on a break signal and try it once.
Week
5

The stress-reducing conversation

Most conflict is stress from outside the relationship landing inside it. How to listen for your partner’s outside stress without problem-solving — and why most gridlock is normal.
Practice
The listener role — understanding before solving.
Home
One fifteen-minute stress-reducing conversation.
Week
6

Shared meaning

The top of the house: rituals of connection, and the dreams each of you carries. What kind of life are you building together?
Practice
Name one ritual to protect and one shared dream.
Home
Yours to keep.
How payment works
$95 per couple, per session
Paid in full at enrollment

Groups run out-of-network and privately. Paying in full at enrollment holds your place for the whole series — and lets the group form as a stable, closed circle: the same people, from beginning to end.

Refunds

A full refund if you withdraw before the first session. In the first two weeks, a prorated refund or a credit toward a future group. Once the group has formed, the remaining sessions aren’t refundable — the circle was built around your place in it — but if something serious comes up, talk to me and we’ll find a fair way through.

Superbill

A superbill is available for possible partial reimbursement through your out-of-network benefits. Whether a group qualifies depends on its nature, so it’s best to check with your insurance company.

Reserve your spot

Seats are limited to keep the group small and safe. Reach out — we’ll find out together whether this is the right next step for you, and there’s no pressure either way.

Contact to reserve
alesia@ivycounselinggroup.com (609) 688-8300
Where we meet 182 Tamarack Circle, Skillman, NJ 08558