Gottman Referral Network

About

Michael Basta, L.C.S.W.

Welcome and thanks for checking out my profile. I realize that choosing a couples therapist is a very personal decision. I invite you to read further to learn more about me and my couples therapy practice.

I became a therapist because of how I grew up. We were Catholic – my dad was a bartender, and I thought I would either end up a bartender or a priest. I experienced loss early in my life and became very motivated to learn how to deal with loss and how families were affected. I learned that I could help people because of my experiences.

My early professional experience was working with the disabled population. I found I was really drawn to work with the families of my clients so I pursued my post-graduate education in clinical social work at the University of California Berkeley with an emphasis in family therapy.

I worked for many years as a therapist and often felt that the best way that I could help a troubled child/adolescent was to work separately with their parents. I read about John Gottman’s research on couples relationships and had the opportunity to train with the Gottman's in 2002. This training has been career changing for me. After working for 17 years as the coordinator of a teen intensive outpatient program with Kaiser Psychiatry, I retired in 2014 and have changed my private practice to focus almost exclusively on couples therapy. I am currently part of a research project on the effectiveness of marathon therapy coordinated by the Gottman Institute.

In addition to my work as a couples therapist, I have taught the Gottman Art and Science of Love Workshop (ASL) for over a decade and trained roving therapists at the ASL workshops presented by the Gottman's for many years. I am an Advanced Trainer and consultant for the Gottman Institute and help prepare therapists that are on the track to become Certified Gottman Method Therapists.