Like any population, LGBTQIA+ individuals have a variety of different parts within their internal system. However, LGBTQIA+ clients may also have parts that are specifically related to their experiences of gender and sexual identity. These parts can be particularly strong in clients who have experiences discrimination, stigma, or trauma related to their LGBTQIA+ identity.
The Internal Family Systems (IFS) model of therapy can be helpful for LGBTQIA+ couples in several ways. It can help each partner develop greater self-awareness and compassion for their own internal system. It can help partner develop greater empathy for their partner’s internal parts and their lived experience. And it can help couples work through conflicts that arise in the relationship related to identity, family legacy, sexuality, culture struggles, and trauma related issues that arise in the relationship.
This workshop introduces participants to a new form of couples therapy – one that does deep individual work in the presence of the partner. Most of us, when faced in couples therapy with one or both partners needing trauma work or work on their characters refer these individuals to individual treatment. RLT offers a combination of loving confrontation (Joining through the truth), educational coaching on relational skills, and inner child work that, taken together, produce quick, profound, and lasting change.
Any mental health professional or coach dealing with relational issues in his or her work. It is relevant to both couples therapists and individual therapists with a relational perspective. Anyone interested in how to integrate trauma work into couples therapy. Anyone wishing to go more deeply in their own clinical work.
When faced with loss of attraction, clients and therapists alike often feel overwhelmed, confused, and disempowered. Attraction seems so mysterious, coming on quickly and going away just as suddenly. It is easy to believe attraction is out of our control. But restoring attraction is actually possible. In this workshop, Martha will show you how she uses several concepts and interventions from the Developmental Model of Couples Therapy to help clients identify what is blocking attraction, remove the blocks, and restore intimate connection. Expect a spirited combination of lecture, discussion, Q & A, and plenty of immediately applicable material you can take to your next session.
Since 1988, professionals worldwide have used and taught the Developmental Model. Feedback from thousands of therapists and clients tells us what matters most to clients and what parts of the Developmental Model have led to the greatest breakthroughs in therapeutic skill.
This keynote will emphasize 1) core principles of Developmental thinking that resonate with clients and 2) targeted skill sets that enable therapists to eliminate painful stuck patterns with couples. You’ll come away knowing how to move your couples forward to create enduring change.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a model of therapy that views the mind as a system of sub-personalities or parts that hold different beliefs, emotions, and behaviors. IFS also believes that each person has a “Self” that has inherent wisdom or healing capacity.
When we apply IFS to couples, we help each partner become aware of their own parts and how they interact with their partners parts. This helps couples resolve conflicts that arise when their parts are in opposition to each other. IFS also helps each member of the couple identify and heal the wounds within them that can get in the way of intimacy in the relationship.
The overall goal of IFS in couples is to help individuals become more aware of their own parts, to access empathy for their partner’s parts, and release the blocks that cause conflicts to develop a more compassionate relationship within themselves and their relationship.
For this workshop, we will briefly review research on discussing race related themes and concerns between interracial couples. The presenter will introduce 2-3 interracial couples currently in treatment with this provider and some presenting concerns around sociocultural identity differences, perspectives on social justice, and how the couple discussed or did not discuss microaggressions one partner of the couple experienced outside of the relationship. The presenter will address her own countertransference processes, how she conceptualized the conflicts, and how she addressed and facilitated dialogue between the couple. Participants will also have an opportunity to present their own cases, challenges moments, and questions they have regarding how to address race related presenting issues.
Dishonesty can damage relationships and undermine therapy, but honesty is hard, especially for some clients. And yet, for therapy to progress, romantic partners need to be able to navigate thorny discussions with honesty and respect—and couples therapists need to avoid getting roped into being the lie detector. Honesty and disclosure are an important part of effective therapy, but they are also an important goal to work towards. We will begin by discussing the different kinds of dishonesty, the purposes that they serve, and the impact that actual or suspected dishonesty has on the partner and relationship. Then we will discuss how to help clients build the skills to be able to be more honest with themselves, their partner, and their therapist, as well as how to help partners be better receivers of honest disclosure, so that both partners feel empowered to shift a dissatisfying dynamic.
What kills desire in long-term relationships, and how do you help clients with desire discrepancy find one another again? Desire may be mysterious, but relational dynamics that block it--like pressure for sex, managing sex pain, and sexual performance issues--are very predictable. Learn how to identify and work effectively with these tough but common blocks so that desire can bloom again. You’ll gain clinical tools for depathologizing desire differences, starting a collaborative conversation about pleasure, and helping partners build the skills to stay flexible and connected through sexual challenges.
When it comes to sex issues, therapists are understandably concerned about crossing a boundary, making their clients uncomfortable, or getting outside of their scope of practice. However, when therapists shy away from bringing up sexuality, they may be missing serious (even life-threatening) issues. In this skill-building presentation, Martha will share her unique approach to bringing up sex, including how to follow up ethically and thoroughly once the topic is open. When should you refer or consult? Where is the line regarding scope of practice? What language will help both you and your clients feel comfortable? How much do you need to know about sex? How do you tell whether you’re dealing with relational issue or a sex issue? What should you focus on first? Discover the answers to these questions and more, and walk away with a set of tools you can apply in your very next session.
The process of working with erotic transference and countertransference is often avoided in clinical practice and in the training of psychotherapists. As therapists we must recognize and address that erotic transference and countertransference are significant pathways, albeit uncomfortable topics steeped in fear and defensiveness, toward greater vulnerability, healing, and the potential for growth within the clients we treat and the clinicians we long to be. This keynote discussion will begin a conversation on the process of removing fear from topics traditionally avoided within the realm of normative psychotherapy practice and parameters for their exploration within a boundaried and ethical framework will be provided.