Professor Janet Reibstein Discusses How to Improve Relationships

Can you tell us about the work it out section. Well the work it out section, is the really the most innovative part of this site. It is the place you make plans, you set goals. You can do this on your own or with your partner. It's entirely private. You log onto it, you're protected, nobody ever sees it. Your partner only sees the bits that you elect for him or her to see. So, it's where you make your plans or your goals, and also where you can do some exercises to make changes, to try out changes and then review the effect of those changes on your relationship So it's a really interesting, and exciting way to think about how people in their privacy of their own homes can be very instrumental in thinking about what they want to do with their relationship and trying things out. There are places where you are given ideas for how you can work together as a couple, now that can seem like homework, but sometimes homework can be the thing that makes for a breakthrough in how you experience each other differently. So it's actually a real way for couples to work something out together isn't it? Yeah yeah...I mean I think the main reason people get into ruts is because they just don't know what to do. So this is really good information that you can pick from, and you can choose from and guide you to behaving differently together. What evidence do we have that people actually find using the work it out section effective for them? Janet: When you register on the work it out site, there is an evaluation you can go through, you sort of place yourself and where you are in your relationship. You can use that same evaluation later on to check, to sort of do an audit of where you are in your relationship afterwards. In addition, we have some postings on the forum that talk about how the use of the diary for instance that you can have on the work it out site has been very useful, and other things like that, so I think there is beginning to be some evidence that it is being very useful part of the couple connection.