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James V. Cordova Ph.D.

About

James Cordova is a Professor of Psychology, the Director of the Marriage Checkup Program, and Chair of the Psychology Department at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. Dr. Cordova is a leading figure in the field of Couples Research and Therapy. He is the developer of The Relationship Checkup, a preventative relationship healthcare intervention designed to prevent marital deterioration through the relationship health equivalent of the annual physical health checkup.

Dr. Cordova is currently the co-PI, with retired Lt. Colonel Jeffrey Cigrang, and their Air Force team, on a $1.3M DoD-funded grant to conduct a full-scale randomized control trial of the Marriage Checkup in the Air Force’s integrated behavioral healthcare settings. A previously funded and completed pilot study has demonstrated that the Checkup is easily adapted to primary care settings in the Air Force and has a significant positive effect on the relationship health of Airmen and their spouses.

Dr. Cordova is currently the President of Arammu: The Relationship Checkup, LLC., a university-based startup company designed to market the Checkup throughout both military and civilian populations and improve the overall relationship health of the country as a whole.

Dr. Cordova has previously completed work as the Principal Investigator of a one-million-dollar National Institute of Health grant investigating the efficacy of his Marriage Checkup in civilian populations. He has also completed work with co-investigator Dr. Kristi Coop Gordon on a $3.1 million dollar grant from the Administration of Children and Families to disseminate the Marriage Checkup in primary care settings serving low-income couples.

Dr. Cordova’s work has been covered extensively in the popular media including the NY Times Science section, the Washington Post, CNN, the Rachael Ray show, and Good Morning America. He is the author of a self-help book based on his research called, “The Marriage Checkup: A Scientific Program for Sustaining and Strengthening Marital Health” and a treatment manual called The Marriage Checkup Practitioner’s Guide: Promoting Lifelong Relationship Health published by APA press.

Books by James V. Cordova Ph.D.
Recent Posts
How True Love Tastes: The 80/20 Rule
We learn by experience that we can actually survive inside a state of deprivation, reassuring ourselves that it is temporary, or noble, or maybe just the cost of being a grownup.
Exchanging Ows
This is how we cultivate intimacy rather than callousness, softness rather than coldness, closeness rather than distance.
Affirming the Container

Holding ourselves off from intimacy because we need this problem to go away first is a trap. If you drag your relationship into this trap, it will happily chew it up, spit it out, and ask for more.

Holding ourselves off from intimacy because we need this problem to go away first is a trap. If you drag your relationship into this trap, it will happily chew it up, spit it out, and ask for more.

Healthy Miscommunication

We miscommunicate more commonly than we communicate accurately.

We miscommunicate more commonly than we communicate accurately.

God Grant Me Serenity

We are all familiar with the Serenity Prayer, “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things that must be changed, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Serenity, courage, and wisdom are the three attributes most needed in our endeavor to remain in intimate relationship with one another.

We are all familiar with the Serenity Prayer, “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things that must be changed, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Serenity, courage, and wisdom are the three attributes most needed in our endeavor to remain in intimate relationship with one another.

To Love Me Is to Judge Me

One of the trickiest things about intimacy is that it requires that we allow ourselves to be judged. And not just judged, but judged guilty.

One of the trickiest things about intimacy is that it requires that we allow ourselves to be judged. And not just judged, but judged guilty.

Attention Is the Most Basic Form of Love

There is an epidemic ravaging the health and happiness of American families. We simply have no time for each other.

There is an epidemic ravaging the health and happiness of American families. We simply have no time for each other.