A psychobiological approach to couple therapy (PACT) is, at is core, a social-justice, purpose-centered approach to primary attachment relationships (two or more). That is to say, PACT therapists expect their partnership clients to become secure functioning. A secure-functioning system is one that is a two (or more) psychological system grounded in fairness, justice, mutual sensitivity, collaboration, and cooperation. In other words, secure functioning relationship is a team sport. For many, secure functioning is a high bar to achieve. It requires a degree of social-emotional development, moral reasoning, individuation, differentiation, self-activation, and of course interest in, and a willingness to pursue it as a goal.
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.
Couples therapist Ellyn Bader and Mindsight Institute CEO Caroline Welch will explore how mindfulness can provide an accessible, useful tool in couples therapy, not only for the therapist, the two individuals, and their relationship, but also for the therapeutic process. Mindfulness can be practically applied through Caroline Welch’s 3Ps approach of Purpose, Pivoting, and Pacing to cultivate more resilience which is important to cultivate in couples therapy.
Relational boundaries can be a source of problems if they are too inflexible or if they are too weak. Clinicians need a method to assess and treat boundary issues.
Price:
$29.00Base Price - $59.00 Sale is $29.00price reduced from Base Price - $59.00
One of the missing links in couples strife is undiagnosed ADHD. In this presentation, Dr. Amen will discuss how ADHD can impact relationships in both positive and negative ways. In addition, he will discuss ways to work with couples where one or both members have ADHD, including a brief overview of the 7 types of ADHD he has discovered in his clinical and brain imaging work.
Price:
$29.00Base Price - $59.00 Sale is $29.00price reduced from Base Price - $59.00
Couples treatment requires an understanding of interpersonal dynamics. Clinicians need to understand the benefits and liabilities of couples vs. individual therapy, and have a mechanism for deciding when to use each approach.
Price:
$29.00Base Price - $59.00 Sale is $29.00price reduced from Base Price - $59.00
The Love Code provides a metaphor to explore the neural mechanisms underlying how and why we attach, bond, fall in love and seek out safe and trusted others in an unsafe world. This presentation will explore the body’s need for intimate engagement and social bonding from an adaptive perspective. Within the theoretical context of the Polyvagal Theory, the presentation will illustrate how specific features in our social environment may trigger neurophysiological systems, through a process of “neuroception,” that enables us either to be fearful and disengage or to feel safe and enter enduring intimate relations.
Price:
$29.00Base Price - $59.00 Sale is $29.00price reduced from Base Price - $59.00