BT10 Workshop 27 - One Foot Out the Door - Working With Couples on the Brink - Michele Weiner-Davis, MSW

Description: When one partner wants out, hope can feel out of reach. This workshop offers clear, practical interventions for working with couples on the brink—where divorce is imminent, one partner is disengaged, or infidelity is ongoing. With a structured, strategic approach, it demonstrates how therapists can reframe stuck dynamics, reignite possibility, and help clients move from despair to collaborative repair.

Syllabus Description: 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.

Educational Objectives:

1. List three strategies for helping couples heal from infidelity.
2. Describe a step-by-step map for doing couples therapy with one spouse.
3. List the moment(s) when a therapist can no longer be of help.  

*Sessions may be edited for content and to preserve confidentiality*