Dr. Dahl follows three models of couples therapy.
The behavioral approach developed by John and Julie Gottman at the University of Washington over 30 years of studying the relationships between couples and marriages affords a skills-based approach to developing a working marriage based upon Gottman's theory of the Sound Marital House.
The family systems or emotional systems approach developed by the founder of family therapy, Murray Bowen, M.D. helps couples understand the interpersonal dynamics within the larger family or relational system and lead couples to effectively differentiate a self within the network of emotional relationships in their nuclear and in their extended families.
Communication theory allows a couple to learn effective skills for self-awareness (awareness of sensing, thinking, feeling, wanting and doing), other-awareness (listening skills of attending, acknowledging, inviting more information, summarizing and asking open questions), negotiating differences and the role styles of communication and effective expression of anger play in developing a relationship.