Research
Repaired draws on multiple bodies of research with substantial empirical support. This page cites the primary sources (peer-reviewed studies and the foundational texts) so you can evaluate the evidence yourself.
The frameworks, explained
- What Is the Gottman Method? The Research Behind Predicting Relationship SuccessJohn Gottman spent decades watching couples argue in a lab, then following them for years to see what happened. Here is what the data found: the Four Horsemen, repair attempts, flooding, and what actually distinguishes couples that stay together.
- What Is Nonviolent Communication (and How Does It Work in a Real Argument)?NVC is a framework for having hard conversations without making them harder. Here is what it actually means, how the four-step model works, and why most people use it wrong.
- What Is Emotionally Focused Therapy? Attachment, Negative Cycles, and How EFT WorksEFT is one of the most rigorously tested couples therapies we have. Developed by Sue Johnson, it is built on attachment theory and focused on the emotional bond, not just communication skills. Here is how it works and what the evidence says.
- What Is Internal Family Systems (IFS)? Parts, Self, and Why You Say Things You Don't MeanIFS is a model of the mind built on a simple idea: we contain multiple sub-personalities, or parts. Some protect us, some carry old pain, and one of them, the Self, is always intact. Here is how it works and why it matters for conflict.
- What Is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)? Psychological Flexibility and ConflictACT is one of the most rigorously tested psychotherapies available. Its application to conflict is underappreciated: rather than changing what you think or feel, it asks whether your behaviour in difficult moments actually serves your values.
- What Is Relational Life Therapy? Terry Real on Grandiosity, Shame, and the Losing StrategiesTerry Real's RLT is one of the most direct approaches to couples work available. It names the five things people do in conflict that reliably make things worse, and gives you a concrete framework for doing something different.
- Gottman Method vs EFT: What Each One Actually Does, and How to ChooseThe two most researched approaches to couples therapy start from different places: one from decades of observing couples argue, one from attachment science. Here is what each actually does, where the evidence is honestly strong for each, and how to think about choosing.
Gottman Couples Research
Dr. John Gottman and colleagues conducted over 20 years of observational studies on couples at the University of Washington's Family Research Laboratory (the “Love Lab”). The research identified predictors of relationship dissolution and, critically, the conditions under which repair attempts succeed or fail.
Gottman, J. M., & Levenson, R. W. (1985). A valid procedure for obtaining self-report of affect in marital interaction. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 53(2), 151–160.
DOI →Early empirical validation of physiological measurement in couples research; foundational to the Gottman method.
Gottman, J. M., & Levenson, R. W. (1992). Marital processes predictive of later dissolution: Behavior, physiology, and health. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63(2), 221–233.
DOI →Identifies physiological arousal during conflict as a predictor of later separation. Basis for Repaired's readiness check (Phase A) before conflict engagement.
Gottman, J. M., Coan, J., Carrere, S., & Swanson, C. (1998). Predicting marital happiness and stability from newlywed interactions. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 60(1), 5–22.
DOI →The study identifying repair attempts as a key predictor of long-term relationship stability. Defines "repair attempt" as any bid to de-escalate conflict, the concept that directly informs Phase D of the protocol.
Gottman, J. M., & Silver, N. (1999). The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work. Harmony Books.
The accessible book summarizing 20 years of couples research. Introduces the four horsemen (criticism, contempt, defensiveness, stonewalling) that inform Repaired's tone check criteria.
Gottman, J. M. (1994). Why Marriages Succeed or Fail: And How You Can Make Yours Last. Simon & Schuster.
Explains the 5:1 positivity ratio (five positive interactions for every negative one in stable relationships) and the role of bids for connection, meaning small requests for emotional engagement.
Gottman, J. M. (2011). The Science of Trust: Emotional Attunement for Couples. W. W. Norton & Company.
Covers attunement and the role of turning toward bids for connection. The basis for Phase C of Repaired (mirroring and validation).
Nonviolent Communication (NVC)
Developed by Marshall Rosenberg, NVC is a framework for expressing and hearing needs without blame or judgment. The peer-reviewed evidence base for NVC specifically is smaller than for Gottman research, but the underlying components (empathic listening, needs identification, and request-framing) are supported by a broader communication science literature.
Rosenberg, M. B. (2003). Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life. PuddleDancer Press.
The foundational text for NVC. Repaired's Phase B (private reflection) follows the NVC four-component framework: observation, feeling, need, request.
Kashtan, M. (2014). Spinning Threads of Radical Aliveness: Transcending the Legacy of Separation in Our Individual and Collective Lives. Fearless Heart Publications.
Extends NVC to structural and systemic contexts. Relevant to understanding how individual conflict patterns reflect larger dynamics.
Sears, R., & Kraus, S. (2009). I think therefore I am: Cognitive distortions and coping style as mediators for the effects of mindfulness meditation on anxiety, positive and negative affect, and hope. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65(6), 561–573.
DOI →Research on cognitive distortions underlying conflict, relevant to the NVC observation/interpretation distinction that Phase B trains.
Communication & Relationship Research
Additional peer-reviewed work on structured communication interventions and the mechanisms that determine whether conflict leads to resolution or escalation.
Markman, H. J., Rhoades, G. K., Stanley, S. M., Ragan, E. P., & Whitton, S. W. (2010). The premarital communication roots of marital distress and divorce: The first five years of marriage. Journal of Family Psychology, 24(3), 289–298.
DOI →Prospective study showing that communication patterns before marriage predict divorce. Establishes that structured communication skill practice changes outcomes.
Johnson, S. M. (2004). The Practice of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy: Creating Connection. Brunner-Routledge.
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), a related framework. EFT's emphasis on accessibility and responsiveness in attachment bonds informs Repaired's design of Phase C (listening and validation before repair).
Manne, S., Ostroff, J., Rini, C., Fox, K., Goldstein, L., & Grana, G. (2004). The interpersonal process model of intimacy: The role of self-disclosure and perceived partner responsiveness in couples' interactions. Journal of Family Psychology, 18(4), 589–599.
DOI →Research on perceived partner responsiveness as the key mechanism in relationship intimacy. Directly relevant to Phase C design: mirroring is not agreement. It is demonstrating that you heard.
How the research maps to the protocol
Phase A: Readiness
Source: Gottman & Levenson (1992)
Physiological arousal during conflict impairs effective communication. Phase A checks readiness and offers a grounding exercise before engagement begins.
Phase B: Private reflection
Source: Rosenberg (2003)
NVC four components: observation (what happened), feeling (internal state), need (what was needed), request (what you would ask for). Phase B follows this structure. Responses are private until submitted, which reduces defensiveness-shaped writing.
Phase C: Mirroring
Source: Manne et al. (2004)
Perceived partner responsiveness, the sense that your partner has heard you accurately, is the key mechanism in relationship intimacy. Phase C asks each person to write back what they heard, not what they thought, before anything else.
Phase D: Repair attempt
Source: Gottman et al. (1998)
Repair attempts are bids to de-escalate conflict. Research shows that the success of a repair attempt depends not just on content but on whether the receiving partner is in a state to receive it. The checkpoint before Phase D ensures both parties have gone through Phase C before either reads a repair message.
Phase E: Agreement
Source: Markman et al. (2010)
Structured communication agreements (shared language, explicit commitments, a defined check-in frequency) change long-term outcomes. Agreement without accountability tends not to persist.
Check-ins
Source: Gottman (1999)
Stable relationships maintain agreements through ongoing attention, not single-point commitments. Recurring check-ins operationalize this.
If you are a researcher who has studied NVC, Gottman repair attempts, or structured conflict protocols and would like to see your work cited here, contact hello@repairedapp.com.
For the full About page including what Repaired is and is not, see About.
Where to go next
- How the process works
How the research below turns into an actual sequence of steps.
- Writing on conflict and repair
Longer explanations of each framework, one post at a time.