The Solution Focused Approach is known for being a questions based way of working with clients, thus the key to mastering this approach lays within developing the ability to ask questions that lead toward change. This is an even more crucial skill when working with couples due to the fact that there is more than one person present in the session. This presentation will clearly show how to ask the kinds of questions that evoke love and happiness in a couple's lives.
As more and more people experiment with non-monogamy, therapists everywhere are being called upon to work with polyamory-related relational challenges. Are you prepared to help a client navigate the predictable pitfalls that come with a transition into an open relationship? Clients may be affected by pre-existing unresolved relational issues, like infidelity or substance abuse. They may have significant knowledge deficits about non-monogamous relationship styles, or difficulty making and keeping agreements. Or they may not be able to agree on whether to open their relationship in the first place. How can you help clients build the skills they need in order to make polyamory work well, and what skills are those? Gain concrete strategies for handling the key difficulties your clients will face when opening up. Expect case examples, worksheets and exercises, and an opportunity to ask Martha about your toughest polyamory-related cases.
The empty chair psychodrama was first made popular by Fritz Perls, founder of Gestalt therapy. It has since been adapted into Redecision Therapy, The Developmental Model, Voice Dialogue, Family Constellation, and even Cognitive-Behavioral therapy. PACT has adapted this approach for use within the couple session when consistent projection or projective identification processes impede the forward development of one or both partners. This particular technique uses Self and Object Relations theory to capture real time archaic self and object representations that maintain an ego syntonic, regressed relationship with one (or more) original caregiver(s). The psychodrama provides an opportunity for the couple therapist to bring this maladaptive early relationship to light and to make strides toward ego dystonic rejection of the regressive behavior.
The Solution Focused Approach has been around since the 1970s and in that time it has grown in prominence and popularity amongst professionals in many fields. One area where it has been gaining steam in recent years has been in working with couples. This is an approach about using questions to help the couple move their relationship from the problem towards a future that is more desirable to both partners.
Motivational factors may be central in the life of a couple. The panel will describe conflicts due to motivational factors and provide therapeutic options.
In this golden age for models of couples therapy, therapists may wonder if they should be practicing the “one best model.” The research is clear that couples therapy models that have been tested are about equally effective, and that there are a number of key ingredients in any effective way to practice couples therapy. The presenter will describe these key ingredients that cut across models and some skills necessary to practice any model. He will argue that since this therapy is about improving relationships, the relationships we establish with our couple clients—balanced, caring, and sometimes challenging—are the heart of what we have to do well.
One out of eleven couples has one partner with ADHD which can impact not only the individual, but also makes certain relationship dynamics more likely—and makes these couples more likely to show up in your office. Unfortunately, if the one partner’s ADHD isn’t addressed directly, the therapist will get stuck in the same traps as the partners do. We will begin with a more useful conceptualization of how ADHD impacts an individual’s abilities to meet daily demands. We will then discuss how this sets up the dynamics that commonly develop in these couples, so that you can help these clients break free of the disempowering tug of war and create a more balanced and satisfying relationship. This will include how ADHD impacts a couple’s sex life and how to make yet another area of discontent into a shared activity that adds energy to the relationship. This presentation will be full of practical strategies you can use with your next client.
Working with sexuality and the erotic behavior many people engage in today can challenge a therapist’s deeply held beliefs about sex and relationships. It can be difficult just to keep up with the impact of technology on sexual behavior, especially with the advent of sex robots, teledildonics, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality. Intensive and fun, this workshop includes videos, expert panels, and small-group discussion to help therapists face their own preconceived notions and countertransference around sex and intimacy.
During this time of extreme polarization in the country, political stress has invaded couple relationships. Loyalties to different political tribes create tensions, as do different ways of coping with this stressful environment. This is new territory for couples therapists, and of course we are dealing with our own distress about what’s going on the country. The presenter will offer clinical strategies for helping couples in turbulent times, along with examples of how he has applied couples therapy strategies to create community interventions to reduce polarization, via the nonprofit Braver Angels.