Careers in Family & Couples Therapy Panel with Alissa Vannet, Psy.D., Kate Threlfall, Ph.D., and Raven Westhoelter, LMFT. Join us for a panel of family therapists in various employment settings. In this workshop, a panel of family therapists will discuss their career paths in family and couples therapy. Hear how practicing clinicians launched their practice, got involved in teaching and publishing, worked in hospital settings, and other creative activities in the field of couples and family therapy. Please contact our AFTNC Student Representatives for any questions: Eunbin Lee (elee@wi.edu), Lauren Kotin (lkotin@wi.edu), Phoebe Brock-Dolas (pbrockdolas@wi.edu), and Silvia Pera (spera@wi.edu).

Come join Peter Fraenkel, PhD, for a weekend workshop!

Therapy with couples on the brink of relationship dissolution involves special challenges. These couples present with high levels of disdain, low motivation, and hopelessness. One or both partners may be highly ambivalent about engaging in therapy and may be reluctant to try new and more positive interaction styles for fear that progress may trap them in the relationship. Social and personal justice issues around power often play a role in the couple’s distress. This presentation will provide a science-based integrative approach to working with last chance couples. A taxonomy of five types of last chance couples will be described: High conflict couples; those in which there has been a value or safety violation (interpersonal violence, infidelity, substance overuse); couples where partners have mismatched personal timelines/life goals; couples with little to no passionate connection; and couples in which a partner feels the need to pursue further psychosocial and sexual development outside the relationship. Research-supported techniques for establishing a therapeutic alliance and contract will be described. Clinical vignettes will illustrate effective techniques drawn from a multi-perspectival approach to couple therapy (the Therapeutic Palette Integrative Couple Therapy and the Creative Relational Movement Approach to Change) that integrates systemic, cognitive-behavioral, structural, intergenerational, attachment, experiential, psychodynamic, narrative, neuroscience, feminist, multicultural, and existential perspectives and practices. A Buddhist/Mindfulness approach to communication will be presented, as well techniques for increasing passion and pleasure.

Come join Peter Fraenkel, PhD, for a weekend workshop!

Therapy with couples on the brink of relationship dissolution involves special challenges. These couples present with high levels of disdain, low motivation, and hopelessness. One or both partners may be highly ambivalent about engaging in therapy and may be reluctant to try new and more positive interaction styles for fear that progress may trap them in the relationship. Social and personal justice issues around power often play a role in the couple’s distress. This presentation will provide a science-based integrative approach to working with last chance couples. A taxonomy of five types of last chance couples will be described: High conflict couples; those in which there has been a value or safety violation (interpersonal violence, infidelity, substance overuse); couples where partners have mismatched personal timelines/life goals; couples with little to no passionate connection; and couples in which a partner feels the need to pursue further psychosocial and sexual development outside the relationship. Research-supported techniques for establishing a therapeutic alliance and contract will be described. Clinical vignettes will illustrate effective techniques drawn from a multi-perspectival approach to couple therapy (the Therapeutic Palette Integrative Couple Therapy and the Creative Relational Movement Approach to Change) that integrates systemic, cognitive-behavioral, structural, intergenerational, attachment, experiential, psychodynamic, narrative, neuroscience, feminist, multicultural, and existential perspectives and practices. A Buddhist/Mindfulness approach to communication will be presented, as well techniques for increasing passion and pleasure.