CC04 Keynote 02 - Twelve Strategies for Solving Marital Problems - Cloe Madanes, Lie. Psych.

Description:

Madanes will describe the Stages of Alienation that can occur in a marriage. She will present twelve strategies to resolve the most common marital problems.

Educational Objectives:

1. To name twelve strategies for solving marital problems.
2. To describe the stages of alienation in a marriage.

*Sessions may be edited for content and to preserve confidentiality*

Outline:

Cloe Madanes’ Mission & Career Context

• Cloe shares her mission and career history (influenced by Bateson, Frankl).

• Critiques modern psychotherapy for being dominated by managed care, medication, and profit motives.

• Decries brief therapy sessions, over-prescription, and unethical social service practices.

Partnering with Tony Robbins

• Cloe introduces her work with Tony Robbins and the Robbins Madanes Center for Strategic Intervention.

• The center trains therapists to focus on human needs, rights, and compassionate approaches.

• Includes affiliate programs and online/web training with her son Marpecha.

Strategies for Couples Therapy

• Goal: help couples stay together and meet each other’s six human needs: certainty, variety, significance, love/connection, growth, and contribution.

• Couples are guided to identify and discuss which needs are most important to each partner.

Values Clarification & Indirect Negotiation

• Couples list core values and define rules for living by them.

• Indirect negotiation: partners pose and answer fundamental questions in each other’s presence.

• Promotes deeper understanding and cooperative problem-solving.

Reclaiming Identity & Resolving Double Binds

• Spouses explore childhood decisions that limit them and commit to change through seven steps.

• Double binds (contradictory demands) are addressed through humor and absurd solutions.

Understanding Despair & Gaining Leverage

• Despair can offer secondary gains like sympathy or lowered expectations.

• Clarifying these “benefits” helps couples seek healthier ways to connect.

• Cloe introduces eight master steps for couple therapy, including problem definition and pattern change.

Universal Therapy Steps & Broader Applications

• Cloe applies her methods to cases like sex offenders and victims.

• Stresses the role of spiritual healing and public apology (e.g., Richard Clark after 9/11).

• Urges therapists to master these steps for broad, effective use.