CC17 Workshop 10 - Beyond Words: Somatic Interventions for Couples Treatment - Janina Fisher, PhD
In traumatized couples, talking about 'what happened' often evokes more conflict than empathy and does not alter their habitual trauma-related animal defense survival responses of fight, flight, freeze, submission, or cry for help. By teaching couples to observe their somatic responses to ea
CC17 Workshop 11 - The “Deal Breaker”: Detection and Intervention - Stan Tatkin, PsyD, MFT
The PACT therapist is always moving couples toward secure functioning. A deal breaker is a conflict between partners for which there is no workable solution. Deal- breakers lead partners to a dead-end and therefore threaten the existence of the relationship. The couples therapist must play the long
CC17 Workshop 12 - The Sober Truth: Doing Effective Couples Therapy with Addicted Partners - Sue Diamond Potts, MA, RCC
Addiction is rampant in our society. Many of us have been both bombarded professionally with this reality and touched personally in some form. Addicts are like tornadoes ravaging their way through the lives of others, and people in need of immediate care are left bleeding on the sidelines. And yet,
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.
CC17 Workshop 13 - Therapy with Polyamorous Clients: Gaining Cultural & Clinical Competence with a Marginalized Population - Martha Kauppi, LMFT, ACST
Polyamory is in the news, in the movies, and in the therapy room. As media attention for this open relationship style grows, more and more people are giving it a try. Working skillfully with this marginalized group requires gaining cultural competence specific to their struggles. Learn who chooses p
The gay male subculture emphasizes easy sexual hookups as a norm, without questioning whether this is actually healthy for a couple. This workshop will define how male couples choose exclusivity successfully, how healthy attachment is an important component for considering an open relationship and provide guidelines for managing open boundaries within a couple. Norms in the subculture will be compared to stereotypical heterosexual couples, including what actually constitutes deception or affairs, and how transform deception to a deeper intimacy.
Most couples have at least one partner who withdraws. To bring about lasting change, withdrawers have to engage in the process of therapy and most importantly they must reengage in the relationship. Using video examples, this workshop focuses on how to engage withdrawers and help them reengage with their partners.
The first emotion our ancestors evolved was fear—and we remain highly threat reactive today, continually overestimating threats and underestimating opportunities and resources. We’ll explore multiple methods for helping clients “cool the fires” of fear and anger, and internalize inner strength and an appropriate sense of safety.
Building on the keynote on “taking in the good,” we’ll explore ways to use positive experiences to soothe and potentially replace negative material (e.g., relationship upsets, pain from childhood). Through discussion and experiential activities, we’ll match healing experiences to disturbances in the brain’s core motivational systems (Avoid harm, Approach reward, Attach to “us”).