Getting Started with Couples Therapy Intensives: A New Approach for Fast and Effective Results

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Handouts

Faculty

Ellyn Bader, PhD Related seminars and products

The Couples Institute

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Ellyn Bader, PhD, is a psychologist, codirector of The Couples Institute in Menlo Park, California, and co-creator of The Developmental Model of Couples Therapy. She’s one of the early founders of couples therapy, as well as a recognized thought leader and trailblazer in relationship therapy. She coauthored the award-winning textbook In Quest of the Mythical Mate and Tell Me No Lies: How to Face the Truth and Build a Loving Marriage with her husband, Dr. Peter Pearson. She’s been featured on Nightline, Good Morning America, and NPR, as well as in O Magazine, Cosmopolitan, and the Wall Street Journal.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Ellyn Bader is the director of The Couples Institute and receives compensation as a consultant. She receives royalties as a published author. Ellyn Bader receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Ellyn Bader is a member of the American Psychological Association, the International Transactional Analysis Association, and the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists.

Lori Weisman, MA, LMHC Related seminars and products

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Lori Weisman, MA, LMHC, is a relationship expert based in both Palm Desert, CA, and Bellevue, WA, who specializes in couples coaching, relationship intensives, and marriage intensives. She’s a seasoned relationship expert with extensive experience in helping couples navigate the complexities of their relationships. With a deep understanding of the intricacies of human connection, Lori has dedicated her career to providing guidance and support to couples in crisis. Her expertise spans a wide range of relationship issues, from communication breakdowns to infidelity, and she has a proven track record of helping couples find hope and a path forward.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Lori Weisman maintains a private practice. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Lori Weisman has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Additional Info

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Objectives

1. Describe the 4 pillars of intensive couples’ work. 

2. Describe the key characteristics of couples who may benefit from an intensive therapy format. 

3. Demonstrate how to increase client involvement and accountability in both traditional and intensive couples’ therapy. 

4. Utilize simple, easy-to-follow language to explain key brain structures involved in interpersonal dynamics, such as emotion regulation, and describe how couples therapy can be utilized to work directly with these structures to improve couples' dynamics. 

5. Articulate the benefits of differentiation in couples work, demonstrating an awareness of how intensive couples therapy can be utilized to facilitate this process. 

6. Demonstrate communication-based interventions that can be used to build new emotional skills in each partner. 

7. Utilize an intensive therapy model to create an environment of uninterrupted focus and practice to address conflict avoidance, hostility and stalled progress. 

8. Utilize interventions to prevent fighting couples from controlling and derailing the session, while creating an opportunity for improving communication and creating repair. 

Outline

What is a Couples Intensive? 

Why does it matter? 

What does it accomplish? 

1. Calming a crisis 

2. Getting therapy off to a strong and focused start 

3. Changing the mindset about change 

4. Developing skills to manage conflict and emotional reactivity  

Why the current model of couples therapy does not work for all couples 

What are some benefits for couples: 

• Start therapy in a strong way that is conducive to increasing motivation for the work ahead 
• Focused time results in clear goals and more traction 
• Time to build and practice progressive skills  
• Hope is created when things seem bleak  

What are the benefits for therapists 

• Achieve better clinical outcomes for your clients 

• Develop stronger leadership  

• Use tools that work 

• Be more active and proactive in your approach  

• Stop watching the clock and worrying about ending sessions when clients are dysregulated -really have the time to help couples reach their goals  

• Witness significant growth happen in real time 

• Want to lessen your caseload without limiting your earning potential – while improving your impact on your clients 

 Therapist skill sets: 

1. Understanding couples developmental stages 

2. Increasing motivation and enhancing inspiration  

3. Teaching the Brain and Neuroplasticity 

4. Managing conflict and differences 

Target Audience

• Counselors  

• Social Workers  

• Psychologists  

• Marriage & Family Therapists  

• Addiction Counselors  

• Physicians  

• Physician Assistants  

• Other Mental Health Professionals 

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