Why Choose Dr. Solley for Your Couples Therapy?
Most therapists are friendly and caring. Many therapists offer marriage counseling (also known as couples therapy or couples counseling). However, a recent study shows that while 80% of therapists offer couples therapy, many are not adequately trained in couples therapy and can inadvertently harm your relationship. (See “Relationship Undermining in Couple Therapy.ˆ)
​
Couples counseling is a specialty, requiring special training and experience.
​
I have been a staff therapist with the Couples Institute in Menlo Park — one of the leading couples therapy programs in the country — since 2006. My interest in family systems and couples therapy goes back to my earliest internship at a family therapy center prior to graduate school over 40 years ago.
From almost the same time I have also been deeply influenced by John Gottman’s research, and have since done years of training in Sue Johnson’s Emotionally Focused Therapy. I have also studied with a number of other master therapists in the field such as Dan Wile, Terry Real, and Stan
Tatkin, to name a few. I keep up on research and offer many different tools to help improve your relationship.
Clients describe me as fair, empathic, steady, collaborative, grounded, and a very focused listener. One of the most frequent complaints from couples who have had negative experiences with other therapists is that the therapist let them continue their destructive negative interactions. If you as a couple are engaging in destructive or unproductive patterns, I will be firm and directive to help you build more effective skills.
If you are working well with principles and skills that you are learning, or if you need more room to feel or reflect, I will pull back and give you more space to do those things.
​
One of my highest priorities is to make sure you are getting the best experience possible out of therapy. I especially enjoy working with premarital or early-relationship couples, tech-people, and artists. But if you’re not in one of those groups please call me anyway as I love working with all kinds of couples, including same-sex partners.
Meet Psychologist Dr. Robert Solley
Dr. Robert Solley is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in couples and individual adult therapy in San Francisco. Earning his PhD from the California School of Professional Psychology in Berkeley, Dr. Solley has been licensed for over 30 years.
He has trained and worked in such diverse settings as Children's Hospital in Oakland, California-Pacific Medical Center
in San Francisco, and is a Staff Therapist with the Couples Institute in Menlo Park.
Dr. Solley has taught masters and doctoral students as an adjunct faculty member at Alliant University, The Wright Institute, and the University of San Francisco. He is accepting new couples and adult individuals in his private practice on Valencia Street in San Francisco’s Mission District.