It is said that one in three couples experience a sexual desire gap, a difference that often wrecks havoc in every aspect of marital life. When you add to this the compelling statistic that one out of ten couples has a sexless marriage, it's easy to understand why so many couples are losing tough both literally and figuratively. A marriage that is void of healthy intimacy and physical connection risks divorce and/or infidelity. Learn what you can do to help couples bridge the desire gap and bring passion back to marriage, and also help couples heal from infidelity.
Ericksonian psychotherapy emphasizes the utilization of people's resources. When working with children of divorced parents, I focus on strengths and keep in mind the Ericksonian interventions should be brief because children may get tired of being in therapy for a long time. In a case with two children, techniques including the use of toys will be discussed. How to make several brief interventions quickly while utilizing "toy co-therapists" in home assignments, and the combination of conversational trance with tasks will be emphasized. There also will be references to the importance of working with the family system.
What are the differential impacts of divorce on children? This workshop will consider the thoughts, feelings, behavior, issues, concerns and needs of children in different age groups, from birth to 50 years, within the framework of the stages of the divorce process and for years afterwards. Lecture, discussion, clinical examples and role plays will be interspersed as efficacious interventions are considered.
BT10 Workshop 27 - One Foot Out the Door - Working With Couples on the Brink - Michele Weiner-Davis, MSW
Few couples seem as unlikely to profit from therapy as those in which one partner has already decided to leave. Yet, even at this point, a therapist has an opportunity to turn the situation around. In this workshop, you will learn concrete, step-by-step techniques to help people with seemingly intractable problems – one spouse’s unwillingness to seek therapy, a divorce in process, and on-going infidelity – to resolve their difficulties and reclaim their lives.
BT12 Conversation Hour 05 - New Directions in Divorce Busting - Michele Weiner-Davis, MSW, LCSW
Educational Objectives:
Learn the philosophies of various practitioners and theorists.
Anxiety and depression are fast becoming the leading causes of personal disability and the single greatest destructive force in relationships. Research indicates that when one person in a relationship is depressed, the divorce rate goes up nine times. Therefore, it is vital that therapists learn to recognize typical and atypical symptoms early in therapy. It also is imperative that symptoms of relational depression are recognized. Lecture, video, written exercises and demonstration will be used.
This workshop discusses the brain circuitry of the three primary mating emotions: lust, attraction and attachment. It traces the evolution of these emotion systems and illustrates how their neural circuitry contributes to contemporary patterns of marital harmony and discord including adultery; divorce; stalking behavior; clinical depression due to rejection in love; and other issues brought to contemporary couples therapy.