CC17 Workshop 13 - Therapy with Polyamorous Clients: Gaining Cultural & Clinical Competence with a Marginalized Population - Martha Kauppi, LMFT, ACST

CC17 Workshop 13 - Therapy with Polyamorous Clients: Gaining Cultural & Clinical Competence with a Marginalized Population - Martha Kauppi, LMFT, ACST

Polyamory is in the news, in the movies, and in the therapy room. As media attention for this open relationship style grows, more and more people are giving it a try. Working skillfully with this marginalized group requires gaining cultural competence specific to their struggles. Learn who chooses polyamory and why, how long their relationships last, how many relationships they have, what their family groups look like, and how challenges specific to polyamory might present in your therapy room. Learn how to identify and disrupt maladaptive relational strategies without perpetuating negative cultural bias. Gain insight into working with alternative family structures through case presentations from Martha’s practice, and take advantage of question-and-answer segments so that you can leave feeling confident about putting the information into practice.

Educational Objectives:

● Demonstrate learning of the difference between a relationship structure and a decision-making body and why this is relevant to therapy.

● Describe how to work with polyamory from a differentiation perspective.

● Identify 6 common relationship challenges for polyamorous clients, and clinical treatment strategies for each one.