Full Course Description

Foundations of Couples Therapy Work

Couples therapy is one of the most challenging forms of psychotherapy. Indeed, many clinicians say they won’t work with couples. Why the hesitation? Couples often wait too long and then come to therapy with highly reactive well-rehearsed patterns of painful interaction Therapists are not just working with the two individuals, but with a powerful interaction system that quickly pulls partners—and the therapist—into familiar cycles of blame, defensiveness, and shutdown.

Being skilled requires the capacity to function in high intensity moments, the discernment to know why the couple is really there, the ability to inspire change and the incisiveness to recognize different types of motivation.

In this engaging one-hour workshop, participants will learn the core foundations that enable therapists to be strong leaders who can think developmentally, interrupt reactive patterns, and help partners slow down and evolve. This workshop offers a practical framework therapists can immediately apply to create more effective and growth-oriented couples sessions.

Program Information

Objectives

Distinguish Significant Differences between Individual Therapy and Couples Therapy.
Delineate 3 Different Reasons Couples Come for Therapy.
Identify 5 Common Mistakes Couples Therapists Make.

Outline

Introduction & Framing the Complexity of Couples Therapy

Why couples therapy is uniquely challenging
How relational systems pull therapists into reactivity
The necessity of strong therapeutic leadership when working with couples

Core Differences Between Individual and Couples Therapy

Managing dual alliances
Navigating heightened intensity and rapid shifts in real time

The Three Primary Reasons Couples Seek Therapy and the Importance of Knowing Why

To grow and change
To make a decision
To separate or end the relationship

Common Mistakes Couples Therapists Make

Getting caught in blame or taking sides
Overfocusing on content instead of process
Allowing emotions and reactive triggering interactions to dominate sessions 
Losing leadership during high reactivity moments
Turning individual issues into joint couples issues and inhibiting growth

5 Developmental Stages of Couples & Treatment Implications

Describing the 5 stages  and Normalizing Developmental Growth
Recognizing stage imbalances

3 Motivation Patterns in Partners Seeking Couples Therapy

How motivation styles shape reactivity, engagement, and resistance
Using awareness of motivation to influence goal setting

Target Audience

Psychologists
Physicians
Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Social Workers
Marriage & Family Therapists
Psychotherapists
Other Behavioral Health Professionals

Copyright : 06/16/2026

Ethical Issues and Countertransference in Couples Therapy

Working with couples is a completely different therapeutic experience than working with individuals. In most cases it is not 1+1=2…it’s more like 1+1=47 in terms of complex ethical issues that can arise. It is also the case that countertransference can come up for us much more frequently in this work. So how to manage this? What is crucial to know about the different ethical guidelines we need to follow when working with the couple system? How do we manage our own countertransference when we see echoes of our own relationships in the couples we are treating? This ethics training will give you a broad overview of the most important issues to pay attention to as you move into working systemically with couples.

Program Information

Objectives

After this training hour, participants will be able to:

Explain why defining the client as the couple system is crucial for ethical practice when working with couples.
Apply relevant foundational ethical principles and relevant ethical codes to the practice of couple’s therapy.
Differentiate between common countertransference reactions in couples therapy versus warning signs to pay attention to.

Outline

Determine who the client is

The client is the relationship
How a systemic focus changes things
Foundational ethical principles
Ethical codes guidance (AAMFT; APA; NASW; ACA)

Countertransference with particular issues

Understanding the power dynamic
- Siding with one versus the other
- When to truth tell and when to hold off
Issue of staying or leaving
- We don’t get a vote on this
- Informed consent
Dealing with sexual issues
- When to refer to a sex therapist
- Is it attachment that is getting in the way?
Secrets policy
- To keep or not to keep?
- Informed consent
Affairs/betrayals
- Repair of rupture within the relationship
- Issues of apology and forgiveness
- To stay or go?
- Supporting people with “conscious uncoupling”

Any contraindications on doing couple’s counseling with any particular couple

Substance abuse
Intimate Partner Violence
- Common violence
- Terroristic threats

Terminating couple’s therapy

Limitations of the research/risks

Target Audience

Psychologists
Physicians
Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Social Workers
Marriage & Family Therapists
Psychotherapists
Other Behavioral Health Professionals

Copyright : 06/16/2026

Mixed Neurotype Couples

Some of the most exhausted, hopeless, and misunderstood couples in our practices are mixed-neurotype couples. Most clinicians were never trained to identify them or treat them effectively. This session offers couples therapists a neurodiversity-affirming reframe for recognizing these patterns, along with practical tools they can bring into sessions right away.

Program Information

Objectives

Identify at least three indicators of mixed neurotype to improve case conceptualization.
Apply neurodiversity affirming assessment strategies to enhance therapeutic safety and accuracy.
Implement interventions (e.g., structured communication frameworks, accommodation planning, special interest–based bonding) to strengthen intimacy and repair.

Outline

Foundations

Understanding autism and ADHD as neurotypes, not disorders
High masking and late diagnosis in adult relationships
Why mixed-neurotype couples often arrive burned out and misunderstood
Risks and limitations of traditional couples therapy approaches

Neurodiverse Relationship Dynamics

Differences in communication, processing, and emotional reciprocity
Common patterns of misunderstanding and sensory mismatch
The role of identity, diagnosis, and disclosure within the relationship
Framing neurodiversity as difference, not dysfunction

Why Neurotype Awareness Is Critical to Therapeutic Success

Most mixed-neurotype couples have struggled in therapy before
Late diagnosis is common, especially among women, BIPOC individuals, and LGBTQ+ people
High masking: appearing neurotypical comes at an enormous personal cost
How misattribution drives relational pain: assuming a partner is mean, avoidant, or simply doesn’t care
Risks of missing neurodivergence: pathologizing neurological differences, misapplying techniques, and deepening shame

Common Presentations in Couples Therapy

Hyperverbal over-explaining and shutdowns: how conflict looks in mixed-neurotype pairs
Asymmetry in emotional expression and how it’s misread
Predictability vs. control: reframing a common source of conflict
Sensory sensitivity and its impact on connection and physical intimacy
Special interests as an underutilized resource for connection

Masking and Its Relational Cost

What masking is: suppressing autistic traits to appear neurotypical
Who am I? Finding authenticity after a lifetime of performing
Uncovering masking patterns beyond the partnership: why intimate relationships are often where the mask finally slips
Why partners often feel deceived after marriage or cohabitation, and how to address it therapeutically
Autistic burnout: when it looks like sudden personality change, withdrawal, or loss of intimacy

Intimacy, Gender, and Sexuality in Mixed-Neurotype Couples

Understanding neurodivergent expressions of intimacy and desire
The influence of gender identity and social conditioning on connection
The diversity of neurodivergent relationship structures: ENM, long-distance, and non-cohabitating partnerships as deliberate and often healthy choices, not compromises
Expanding the therapeutic frame: helping couples stop apologizing for relationships that don’t look traditional and start building ones that actually work for their neurotypes

Target Audience

Psychologists
Physicians
Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Social Workers
Marriage & Family Therapists
Psychotherapists
Other Behavioral Health Professionals

Copyright : 06/16/2026

Navigating Addiction in Couples Therapy

There is often an underlying addiction with one or both partners who are looking to improve their relationship. It’s important for therapists to know what cues warrant further investigation and assessment for an addiction. Once it has been identified, it then can be integrated into the couples work.

Addiction impacts the relationship in significant ways, even if partners continue to be ‘high functioning’. Through psychoeducation, confrontation, negotiation and support, the addicted partner can begin to address and repair the harm done.

The Developmental Model is the best couples approach as it helps explain where addicted partners get stuck and how seamlessly their working through the stages of couples development parallel their work in recovery. Utilizing the tools for increased differentiation allows each partner to break free from the addiction dynamic and create a healthy future together.

Program Information

Objectives

Identify behavioral, relational, and high functioning indicators of addiction within couples therapy.
Apply clinically grounded strategies for integrating addiction related concerns into ongoing couples work, including psychoeducation, boundary setting, and compassionate confrontation.
Use the Developmental Model of Couples Therapy to promote recovery oriented change, enhance differentiation, and support trust building within the relationship.

Outline

Welcome & Overview

Introductions and workshop goals.

Risks and Limitations
Why addiction is frequently missed in couples therapy
Brief framing: addiction as a relational disruptor

Identifying Addiction in Couples Therapy

Key Points

Prevalence of hidden or minimized addiction
High functioning presentations and common blind spots
Behavioral and relational red flags
Quick screening approaches (formal & informal)

Brief Example

Integrating Addiction Into Ongoing Couples Therapy Core Interventions

Psychoeducation: helping partners understand addiction’s relational impact
Confrontation with compassion
Negotiation and boundary-setting
Supporting the partner without enabling
Sample questions to fold addiction assessment into a session

Using the Developmental Model to Support Recovery

Model Overview (brief)

Stages: Symbiosis → Differentiation → Practicing → Rapprochement → Mutual Interdependence
Where addicted partners often get stuck

Application to Addiction

How developmental progress parallels recovery steps
Differentiation as a tool to break addictive relational patterns
Increasing emotional regulation and accountability
Rebuilding trust through stage appropriate interventions

Integration, Q&A, and Key Takeaways

How to weave assessment, addiction treatment, and developmental work into a unified plan
Summary of critical therapist skills
Questions and resource recommendations

Target Audience

Psychologists
Physicians
Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Social Workers
Marriage & Family Therapists
Psychotherapists
Other Behavioral Health Professionals

Copyright : 06/16/2026

Breakups, Separation, and Divorce

This session teaches clinicians how to navigate the end phase of couples therapy—planned or unplanned—with clarity, care, and clinical rigor. You’ll learn a dose based approach to treatment, six evidence informed indicators that it’s time to terminate, and concrete steps for tapering, reflecting, and creating meaningful closing rituals. We’ll also address unilateral termination (“ghosting”), alliance ruptures, and self of the therapist dynamics so you can protect the alliance, honor the work, and set couples up for sustainable success after treatment.

Program Information

Objectives

Identify internal and relational challenges of breakups and divorce to help couples create endings that are careful and caring
Develop a therapeutic stance for effectively working with couples on the brink, including those deciding to break up, to provide balanced and supportive guidance.
Learn approaches for working with "boomerang couples" who repeatedly separate and reconcile, focusing on stabilizing their relationship dynamics.

Outline

Overview of couples on the brink
Discernment Counseling (Doherty)
Therapeutic Stance vis a vis couples on the brink and couples breaking up
Working with “boomerang couples”
Self-of-the-therapist (SOTT) issues in breakups and divorce
Helping a couple end well

Target Audience

Psychologists
Physicians
Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Social Workers
Marriage & Family Therapists
Psychotherapists
Other Behavioral Health Professionals

Copyright : 06/16/2026

Managing the Crisis of Infidelity

A couple comes to see you. One partner devastated, shattered and betrayed. The other ashamed, defensive, or highly conflicted. Sessions are filled with grief, rage, confusion. And you feel pressure to fix something fast that cannot be fixed quickly.

Helping couples navigate the aftermath of infidelity can be challenging work for even the most experienced therapists. It’s rife with anger, distrust, betrayal, guilt, shame, and deep emotional pain. In the face of these intense emotions, therapists need to quickly organize a deluge of conflicting information and narratives into a coherent plan for healing and reconnecting.

Program Information

Objectives

Describe 3 stages of infidelity treatment, demonstrating awareness of the treatment progress that occurs during each stage.  
Evaluate the meaning of affairs and infidelity through a therapeutic lens. 
Determine two types of deception in relationships, including how to work with each.

Outline

Defining Infidelity
The Three Stages of infidelity work: From crisis to termination
Setting the stage for effective infidelity treatment
Moving from regret to accountability
Describe 2 clinical principles that support all early stage interventions
Identify the different types of lies and deception and why this matters
Risks and Limitations

Target Audience

Psychologists
Physicians
Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Social Workers
Marriage & Family Therapists
Psychotherapists
Other Behavioral Health Professionals

Copyright : 06/16/2026

Self of Therapist and Countertransference

This one-hour session examines the role of the therapist’s self in clinical practice, with a focus on countertransference, relational dynamics, and ethical self-disclosure. Participants will explore how personal values, relational history, and implicit biases influence the therapeutic relationship. The course differentiates helpful versus harmful self-disclosure and outlines ethical considerations in the use of therapist transparency. Clinicians will identify emotional, somatic, and relational countertransference responses, including common patterns such as rescue fantasies, alignment bias, avoidance, and trauma triangle enactments. Through guided reflection and skills practice, participants will learn strategies for managing countertransference through supervision, consultation, and structured self-reflection. The course also integrates attachment and partner-selection dynamics to deepen understanding of how therapists’ own relational histories influence clinical work.

Program Information

Objectives

Identify at least three components of the therapist’s self (e.g., personal values, relational history, implicit bias) that influence the therapeutic process.
Differentiate between therapeutic and non-therapeutic self-disclosure and describe the ethical risks associated with inappropriate disclosure.
Recognize and apply strategies for managing countertransference reactions through self-reflection, supervision, and consultation.

Outline

Self of Therapist

SOT Is the therapist’s conscious and unconscious use of their own personality, history, values, emotions, and relational patterns within the therapeutic process.
- Personal values
- Relational history
- Bias awareness

Therapist Self-Disclosure

When it helps
When it harms
Ethical guidelines

Countertransference Defined

Emotional reactions
Identification patterns

What do you feel in the room with a client?

Emotionally
Somatically
Relationally
What’s in the field?

Common Countertransference Patterns

Rescue fantasies
Alignment bias
Avoidance
(Trauma triangle)

Managing Countertransference

Supervision
Consultation
Self-reflection

Skills Practice Exercise

The reason the client is here
One goal they have
One thing I feel in the room
One thing I wonder
One thing I’m doing well

Success

What does it look like?
What does it mean to be in relationship?
Partner selection
Who does your partner remind you of more, in positive and negative ways?
Unconscious choices
We choose a partner who will help us finish off the unfinished business of our childhood
- Pursuing --------Distancing
- Maximizing --------Minimizing
- Approaching -------Avoiding
- Expanding-------Contracting
- By learning how to give our partners what they need, we heal ourselves and them in the process
- We will seek out a partner in our imaginary drama
…..one that matches who we believe we need to be

Exercise How does my history with my own relationship affect my work?

Integration exercise
What are the parts you have been compartmentalizing
What are the parts you have been denying
What parts of you does it not feel safe to explore

Closing the session

What is one take away?
What is one appreciation?

Q&A

Target Audience

Psychologists
Physicians
Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Social Workers
Marriage & Family Therapists
Psychotherapists
Other Behavioral Health Professionals

Copyright : 06/17/2026

Bad and Good Couples Counseling

We all know that mistakes are common in therapy, and perhaps particularly in couples therapy. But training in graduate school and beyond generally does not examine mistakes or emphasize basic skills for managing couple sessions. This workshop will identify the most common screw-ups therapists make in couples therapy, and demonstrate ways to avoid them and do good work. There will be something for both beginning and experienced therapists, who tend to make different mistakes. The workshop will also describe how therapists’ values about commitment influence our work with couples, for better and worse, and how we mess up so frequently. This highly practical workshop, which will include recent research on what clients say happens in couples therapy, will make your couples therapy more effective, whatever your model.

Program Information

Objectives

Describe common beginners’ mistakes in couples therapy.
Describe common experienced therapists’ mistakes in couples therapy.
Explain best practices that cut across models of couples therapy.

Outline

Introduction and Overview
The main challenges in managing couple therapy sessions
Common mistakes to avoid
Best practices that cut across model
Limitations and risks

Target Audience

Psychologists
Physicians
Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Social Workers
Marriage & Family Therapists
Psychotherapists
Other Behavioral Health Professionals

Copyright : 06/17/2026

Love, Intimacy, and the African American Couple

Working with African American couples in counseling requires an understanding of the historic influences on Black relationships (slavery) and current context in which these couples exist. Racism, gender dynamics, geographic location, socio-economic status, level of religiosity, racial identity, and cultural mistrust, all shape Black couples’ experiences in the United States and in counseling. How these dynamics impact couples must be understood to provide culturally responsive, effective couples therapy to Black couples. This training will provide counselors with the tools to better understand, assess, and work with African American couples.

Program Information

Objectives

Understand the primary sociohistorical contextual issues that influence African American couples’ relationship dynamics.
Identify key topics to consider when assessing African American couples such as power dynamics, gender stereotypes, and family situations.
Explain the concept of relational wear and tear and its clinical implications.
Apply culturally responsive therapeutic strengths-based interventions, with African American couples in counseling.

Outline

Introduction

Overview of the purpose and importance of culturally responsive couples counseling
The unique clinical considerations involved in working with African American couples
How sociohistorical and contemporary dynamics inform therapeutic work

Sociohistorical Influences on African American Couple Relationships

The impact of slavery and historical oppression on Black family structures
Generational effects of Jim Crow, discriminatory policies, and mass incarceration
Cultural strengths, resilience, and adaptive relational patterns in Black communities
How these historical contexts shape expectations, attachment, and relational roles

Contemporary Context Shaping Black Couples

Racism and racialized stress as relational burdens
Gender role expectations and sociocultural dynamics within African American communities
Influence of geographic location, socioeconomic conditions, and access to resources
Role of religiosity, spirituality, and community in relationship functioning
Understanding cultural mistrust and its effects on therapeutic engagement

Key Assessment Considerations for African American Couples

Identifying power dynamics and communication patterns
Unpacking gender stereotypes and their influence on roles and expectations
Family-of-origin concerns, extended family involvement, and community-based support systems
Assessing for racial stress, discrimination, and intergenerational trauma
Strategies for conducting culturally responsive and respectful intake assessments

Understanding “Relational Wear and Tear”

Defining relational wear and tear in the context of African American couples
How chronic stressors—including racism, microaggressions, and systemic inequities—contribute to cumulative relational fatigue
Distinguishing between relational wear and tear and typical relationship conflict
Clinical implications for pacing, validating, and supporting couples under chronic strain

Strengths Based, Culturally Responsive Interventions

Applying cultural humility to enhance therapeutic rapport and trust
Leveraging cultural strengths: resilience, humor, spiritual practices, and community support
Culturally informed communication and conflict resolution interventions
Supporting couples in navigating racialized experiences together
Strategies for rebuilding trust in therapy when cultural mistrust is present

Clinical Applications and Case Work

Review of case examples illustrating common themes and intervention strategies
Small group discussion or guided reflection on applying culturally responsive approaches
Opportunities to practice assessment questions, reframes, and intervention techniques

Ethical and Cultural Considerations

Avoiding pathologizing culturally normative behaviors
Recognizing clinician biases and positionality
Ensuring cultural responsiveness remains consistent throughout treatment

Conclusion and Resources

Risks and Limitations
Summary of key concepts and takeaways
Recommended resources for continued learning
Final questions and discussion

Target Audience

Psychologists
Physicians
Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Social Workers
Marriage & Family Therapists
Psychotherapists
Other Behavioral Health Professionals

Copyright : 06/17/2026

Intercultural Couples Therapy in Action

This one-hour presentation supports couples therapists in moving from cross cultural awareness to intercultural clinical practice when working with couples navigating ethnic, racial, and religious undertones. Participants will explore an intercultural stance that recognizes that therapists are not neutral holders of space, but active participants who are both impacted by and shaping the therapeutic environment.

Research demonstrates that when therapists explicitly and thoughtfully address race and other culturally sensitive topics, therapeutic alliance is strengthened and treatment outcomes improve, particularly for clients from marginalized racial and ethnic backgrounds.

This session introduces applied tools including cultural genograms, the therapist reflection, addressing implicit bias, and working with cultural camouflage dynamics in the therapy room. Participants will leave with a practical framework for navigating intercultural couples work and clearly identified areas for ongoing personal and professional development.

Program Information

Objectives

Describe research evidence linking therapist initiated conversations about race and culture to stronger therapeutic alliance and improved outcomes.
Apply cultural genograms and therapist self-reflection to clinical work with intercultural couples.
Utilize a structured framework to recognize the most common cultural camouflages, implicit bias, and relational ruptures related to ethnic, racial, and religious differences.

Outline

Introduction and conceptual framing
Research foundations for intercultural dialogue in therapy
Clinical tools: cultural genograms, therapist self awareness, implicit bias
Cultural camouflage and case-based applications
Limitations, risks, and ethical considerations
Integration and closing discussion

Target Audience

Psychologists
Physicians
Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Social Workers
Marriage & Family Therapists
Psychotherapists
Other Behavioral Health Professionals

Copyright : 06/17/2026

Emotionally Focused Therapy

This workshop brings together attachment science, the EFCT interventions and map, and the unique presence and attunement of the therapist. It introduces clinicians to the foundational principles of EFCT, highlighting its 3-stage process, attachment-based, humanistic experiential approach. The EFCT roadmap for working with couples from diverse, cultural backgrounds will be shared, along with the key, micro and macro interventions therapist use to help couples move from distress and disconnection to safe and secure connection. Participants will see an example of EFCT in action and witnessed the transformative power of this well research model. EFCT significantly improves relationship satisfaction and offers enduring results for couples facing a range of challenges, establishing it as the gold standard for couple distress intervention.

Program Information

Objectives

Describe the theoretical foundations of EFCT, including its basis in attachment science and its application to couple distress.
Identify the 3 stages and key interventions of the EFCT model, including the macro intervention known as the EFT Tango.
Explain the role of empathic attunement in facilitating emotional engagement and secure attachment between partners in EFCT.

Outline

Introduction to EFCT and Attachment Science

Overview of EFCT as an attachment based, humanistic experiential model
Theoretical foundations of EFCT rooted in attachment science
Understanding couple distress through an attachment lens
EFCT as an evidence based model with enduring clinical outcomes

Core Structure of the EFCT Model

Introduction to the EFCT 3 Stage Model
Stage 1: Deescalation and identifying negative interaction cycles
Stage 2: Restructuring interactions through vulnerability and emotional engagement
Stage 3: Consolidation and integration
Overview of key interventions used across all stages

Micro and MacroInterventions in EFCT

Review of the EFCT intervention map
Microinterventions: reflection, validation, evocative responding, heightening
Macrointerventions: The EFT Tango—steps and clinical application
Using the EFCT roadmap with couples from diverse cultural backgrounds

Therapist Presence, Empathic Attunement, and Emotional Engagement

The role of therapist attunement in shaping emotional safety
Empathic responsiveness as the mechanism of change
Helping partners access and share core attachment emotions
Facilitating secure bonding events

EFCT in Action: Demonstration and Clinical Integration

Live or recorded demonstration of EFCT
Observing the EFCT stages and interventions in practice
Identifying moments of attunement, heightening, and cycle deescalation
How EFCT helps couples move from distress to secure connection

Working with Cultural Diversity Using the EFCT Roadmap

How attachment needs and distress patterns present across cultures
Adjusting interventions for cultural responsiveness
Supporting intercultural couples within the EFCT framework
Therapist self awareness and responsiveness in diverse relational contexts

Integration and Application

Synthesizing EFCT theory, techniques, and therapist stance
Case examples and reflective exercises
Translating workshop learning into clinical practice

Closing Discussion

Risks and Limitations
Key takeaways
Q&A and next steps for continued EFCT development

Target Audience

Psychologists
Physicians
Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Social Workers
Marriage & Family Therapists
Psychotherapists
Other Behavioral Health Professionals

Helping Time-Starved Couples Center Love

Many of the couples showing up in our offices are stressed, time-starved, and disconnected. This isn’t because they lack love, but because the demands of modern life leave them with little space for intimacy, rest, and safety within their relationship. How can therapy help couples with limited time, limited emotional bandwidth, and an overwhelming to-do list? In this workshop, we’ll explore the hidden dynamics driving modern couples’ struggles and how those dynamics escalate during major life transitions, like becoming new parents. From mismatched schedules and simmering resentment over who carries more of the mental load to the invisible wounds of postpartum depression, many modern couples face unique stressors that test even the strongest partnerships.

Program Information

Objectives

Identify the clinical challenges dual-income couples face, including time scarcity, role overload, and workplace stress, particularly during the transition to parenthood.
Facilitate structured conversations about parenting roles, stress, varying responsibilities, and mental load while helping clients understand how family-of-origin dynamics shape stress responses.
Support couples in identifying postpartum-related mental health concerns and provide tools to repair early parenting injuries and restore co-regulation.

Outline

Modern Love in a Time-Starved World

The clinical profile of dual-income couples
Internalized gender roles and contemporary stressors
Relationship impacts of role overload and time scarcity
Cultural myths of "doing it all"

Parenting Transition is a Relationship Flashpoint

The collision of identity shifts, sleep deprivation, and stress spillover
Birth trauma and postpartum depression/anxiety as relational injuries
Recognizing ruptures like feeling unprotected or emotionally abandoned
The relationship between supportive family structures and relationship wellbeing

Reworking Therapy for Busy Lives

Adapting therapy for irregular attendance
Providing psychoeducation to couples on stress and mental load.
Three step system for navigating stress

Emotional Safety, Invisible Labor, and Dyadic Coping

Surfacing invisible dynamics and family-of-origin wounds
Dividing labor fairly without reinforcing binary thinking
Dyadic Coping: Tools for co-regulation, stress recovery, and emotional attunement
Social media's impact on gender scripts, expectations, and comparison

Limitations of the Research and Potential Risks

Findings may be limited by heteronormative and middle-class samples
Some strategies require adaptation for partners experiencing IPV or trauma

Target Audience

Psychologists
Physicians
Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Social Workers
Marriage & Family Therapists
Psychotherapists
Other Behavioral Health Professionals

Beginning with a Couple: Assessment and Alliance

This training offers an in-depth exploration of foundational components in conducting effective couple therapy. Beginning with an overview of how to assess a couple as a dynamic relational system, participants will learn to gather clinically relevant information that informs treatment planning and intervention. The course will address common self-of-the-therapist (SOTT) issues that can emerge in early sessions, helping clinicians build awareness of their own reactions and biases that may impact the therapeutic process. This training covers history taking, the strategic use of homework in couple therapy, helping clinicians assign and process tasks that support treatment goals, and more.

Program Information

Objectives

Determine how to manage alliances in couple therapy.
Utilize relational terms to conceptualize a couple’s difficulties.
Identify self-of-the-therapist (SOTT) issues that may arise during the early stages of couple therapy.

Outline

Overview of assessment of a couple system
Self-of-the-therapist (SOTT) Issues in early sessions of couple therapy 3
Initial contact with couple
History of presenting concern(s) for the couple
History of each partner
History of the relationship
Therapeutic alliance in couple therapy
The role of homework in couple therapy

Target Audience

Psychologists
Physicians
Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Social Workers
Marriage & Family Therapists
Nurses
Psychotherapists
Other Behavioral Health Professionals

Healing from Affairs: Moving Past the Trauma of Betrayal and Infidelity

In this cutting-edge training, we will discuss the varieties of affairs and the many ways that relationships can heal from the betrayal that affects intimacy. We will review the stages of recovery that lead to long-term healing. Issues around trust, forgiveness, new visions of monogamy, sexuality and connection for the future of the couple’s relationship will be addressed. The recording will include videos and case examples to illustrate how breaches of monogamy can affect potential ongoing connection.

We will look at integrity, narcissism, second adolescence, parallel love relationships, online affairs, pornography, sex addiction and emotional infidelity and their effect on sexuality, intimacy and emotional connection and how therapists can help restart communication. We will review three phases of treatment and the steps of the recovery process.

It is crucial to understand the triangulation that can occur when therapists do not explore their own bias and countertransference and we will look at how to avoid unintentional shaming and client retaliation. We will look at the power of the third in the relationship, including the therapeutic as well as the romantic. This recording will delve into the meaning of each type of affair and participants will learn interventions to help repair, restructure and redefine the future and help clients create a new monogamy for a stronger more insightful and connected partnership.

This recording will move beyond a victim, perpetrator and rescuer model of therapy and will create sustainable monogamy agreements where transparency and authenticity promote resiliency.

Program Information

Objectives

Catalog infidelity using the three-part definition and how partners are affected in a marriage or committed partnership.
Determine the betrayal trauma effects on relationships and how collusion and bias play a part in the secondary gain of the role of the third in infidelity.
Analyze why the current therapy isn’t working and why some systems of recovery from affairs can retraumatize clients.
Distinguish the three phases of treatment after an affair and determine how they can improve treatment outcomes.
Distinguish the difference between implicit and explicit monogamy and create new monogamy agreements.
Construct a revised formula for treatment plans after infidelity breaches, to include long term sustainable monogamy.

Outline

Affair recovery in Integrative Relationship Therapy

Why do people cheat?
The types of Affairs that present in treatment
What is Infidelity?
Three Parts of an affair
Countertransference
Role of the third in treatment
Avoiding re-traumatization in therapy
What is betrayal trauma
What is collusion and bias and secondary gain
Individual integrative therapy

Three stages of Affair recovery treatment

Crisis/realization
Insight/reevaluate
Vision/renegotiate
What is erotic recovery
Pleasure heals trauma
Treating the cheating partner
Video: case
Erotic shutdown
What is second adolescence?
Coping with reactivity
Lean in lean out – the dilemma of ending an affair

Creating long term sustainable relationship agreements

Trust, safety and the trap of forgiveness
Implicit vs explicit monogamy
Decrease rumination/blame/projection
Micro and Macro behaviors in treatment
Video: case

Handing Dishonesty

Vulnerable cycle

Long Term Monogamy Plan

Future Treatment Recommendations

Target Audience

Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Marriage and Family Therapists
Nurses
Physicians
Psychologists
Social Workers

Hot Topics: Domesticity, Parenting, Money, and Extended Family

This course addresses some of the most common sources of conflict in relationships. Therapists will learn effective strategies to help couples navigate disputes related to domestic responsibilities, parenting, finances, and extended family or in-laws. By exploring these hot topics, practitioners will be equipped with the tools to foster healthier communication and conflict resolution, ultimately guiding couples toward stronger, more resilient relationships.

Program Information

Objectives

Learn skills and tools to help couples navigate the most common topics of conflict (domesticity, parenting, in-laws, and money)
Equip therapists with tools to assist couples in managing and resolving parenting-related conflicts, promoting cooperative and united parenting approaches.
Provide techniques for guiding couples through financial conflicts, aiding them in establishing healthy communication and budgeting practices.

Outline

Helping couples navigate conflict related to domesticity
Helping couples navigate conflict related to parenting
Helping couples navigate conflict related to money
Helping couples navigate conflict related to extended family / in-laws

Target Audience

Psychologists
Physicians
Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Social Workers
Marriage & Family Therapists
Nurses
Psychotherapists
Other Behavioral Health Professionals

From Pain to Pleasure: Erotic Recovery in Trauma Healing

Eroticism isn’t sex; it’s the landscape on which we play out our deepest thoughts, dreams, impulses, and even painful memories. It’s an elixir of curiosity and vibrancy that makes us feel alive. But when we experience deep wounding or traumatic stress, that erotic self often goes into hiding—we shut down and with it goes our sense of self-worth and ability to experience desire, responsiveness, and openness. The re-emergence of eroticism is often seen as an outcome that happens at the end of trauma treatment. But what if accessing eros is a catalyst that actually stimulates recovery from trauma? In this recording, you’ll discover:

The effects of trauma in intimacy and sexuality
How to include erotic recovery as part of trauma treatment and why it’s important in healing from traumatic stress of all kinds, including sexual, personal, societal, and intergenerational
How to refocus trauma treatment from simply finding meaning in past experiences to reconnecting with new experiences
Specific ways to incorporate erotic recovery in trauma treatment that encourages clients’ ability to reconnect authentically with themselves and others

Program Information

Objectives

Investigate the psychological connections between traumatic stress and sexuality.
Describe how and why erotic recovery can be an essential part of recovery from traumatic stress.
Construct a treatment pathway that emphasizes the creation of new corrective experiences.
Practice at least 3 interventions that focus on the recovery of the loss of sense of self in traumatic stress.

Outline

The hidden connections between traumatic stress and eroticism
How eroticism is lost in trauma
How the recovery of eroticism after trauma can be an essential key in treatment

Target Audience

Psychologists
Physicians
Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Social Workers
Marriage & Family Therapists
Art Therapists
Nurses
Other Behavioral Health Professionals