Introduction to Current Trends in Couple Therapy: Integrative Relational Perspective

Couple therapy as a field has developed to include multiple models of therapy. In spite of significant differences, the integration of some models of couple therapies and techniques has been practiced over the years with great success. This course will review the history of couple therapy, introduce the psychoanalytic couple therapy model, and focus on four of the current influential couple therapists and theorists; John Gottman, Dan Wile, Sue Johnson, and Esther Perel. We will explore models of aggression and conflict in couples as well as love and sexuality. Lastly, a purely behavioral, non-psychoanalytic, approach to the issue of problematic substance use in couples will be presented as a contrast. Couple therapy, to quote Sue Johnson, is “for people from all walks of life and all cultures; everyone on this planet has the same basic need for connection”. The models and principles that will be presented apply to couples independent of their gender identifications, sexual orientations, race, culture, and even individual diagnoses.

The course is taught on Tuesdays, October 7, 14, 21, 28, November 4, 10:30am - 12:00pm

Learning Objectives

I. Understand models of couple therapy, how they converge and differ.

II. Learn clinical approaches to the management of aggression and conflict in intimate relationships.

III. Learn approaches to the enhancement of secure attachment and sexual expression in couples.

IV. Learn a systematic evidence-based behavioral approach to problematic substance use in couples.

Michal Seligman, Psy.D. is a clinical psychologist, psychoanalyst, and couple therapist. Dr. Seligman has been in practice for 30 years. She is a graduate of the NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. Her work with couples integrates psychoanalytic ideas with the clinical observations and techniques of contemporary couple therapists. Dr. Seligman specializes in the treatment of addictions and incorporates behavioral therapy for couples struggling with addictions.

Continuing Education

This class is approved for 7.5 CE contact hours for psychologists, social workers, and psychoanalysts:

The National Institute for the Psychotherapies is approved by the American Psychological Association to offer continuing education credits for psychologists. The National Institute for the Psychotherapies maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

The National Institute for the Psychotherapies is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0018.

The National Institute for the Psychotherapies is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychoanalysts #Psyan-0004.

Personalized CE certificates will can be downloaded at the end of this event after completing an online evaluation form. Attendance on all days are mandatory for CE credits.

Refunds, & Cancellation Policy

Cancellation requests made more than a week prior to the event will be given a full refund of registration fees. Refunds will not be granted for cancellation requests made within a week of the first day of the event or for no-shows on any of the days event take place.