CC25 Workshop 02 - The New Monogamy; Therapeutic Interventions for Contemporary Relationship Structures - Tammy Nelson, PhD

Modern relationships today take many forms, therapists can be a crucial part of helping clients create them intentionally, with a focus on honesty, transparency and equality. What all these relationship choices have in common is the dilemma of personal and relational integrity. How do couples negotiate commitment, keep their promises, and find their personal sexual freedom at the same time? This workshop looks at contemporary relationships and helps clinicians guide couples to create sustainable and flexible monogamy agreements that contribute positively to relational change. You’ll discover how to:

• Explore new types of monogamy and open relationships and how couples are creating them
• Identify how to help clients co-create their ideal relationship agreements
• Provide nonjudgmental guidance for those who break their agreements, have affairs, or have trouble visualizing their ideal vision of modern monogamy
• Examine your own biases and countertransference around non-traditional relationships
• Understand open relationships using the three-part definition and how partners are affected in a marriage or committed partnership. 
• Identify why the current therapy model isn’t working for modern monogamy and why it may even traumatize your clients. 
• Identify the three phases of treatment for monogamy issues including the crisis, the insight and the vision phase
• Discover the difference between implicit and explicit monogamy
• Create a revised formula for treatment plans after monogamy breaches, to include long term sustainable commitment