:: Advanced Training in
Couples and Family Therapy ::
2009
Educational Objectives
Year I:
Key Psychological Concepts in Working with Couples
Module I:
- summarize the connecting links between psychoanalysis and systems theory;
- describe key ideas from neuroscience and attachment theory relevant to couple therapy;
- describe and analyze the normal vicissitudes of intimate relationships to effectively educate couples who are having difficulty;
- identify and describe the role of projective defenses in couples; and
- summarize the concept of “intersubjectivity” and its application and utility in working with couples.
Module II:
The Nature of Change in Couples Therapy: From Theory to Practice
- collect relevant psychological data in order to evaluate current relational difficulties;
- describe how the couple therapist uses the technique of “containing” and “holding” of powerful feelings;
- utilize videotaped segments of couples therapy to demonstrate the application of various couple therapy techniques;
- describe treatment strategies useful in maintaining therapeutic alliances with couples;
- compare and contrast the use of the concepts of “transference” “countertransference” in couples and individual therapy;
- summarize three adult attachment styles.
Year II
Advanced Topics in Couple Therapy
Module I:
- describe the stages of a complete couples therapy;
- design and apply interventions appropriate to the particular stage of therapy;
- identify the couple’s impact on the coupless therapist and utilize that awareness to recognize unconscious processes in the couple;
- predict and describe impasses in couples therapy;
- plan interventions to address impasses.
Module II:
- identify and describe 3-5 ways that sexual orientation impacts functional and dysfunctional patterns of interaction;
- identify the impact of parenting children and adolescents on the couple relationship;
- apply couple therapy skills learned in Year I to the specific couples’ crises of affairs, separation and divorce;
- utilize evidence-based approaches to identify and manage high levels of nervous system activation in conflictual couple interactions;
- summarize different theories and techniques applicable to the final stage of couples therapy.
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