Working With High Conflict Couples

Presenter: Robert Taibbi

CEUs: Category 1 | 3.0 

Description:

Couple therapy is often difficult--the need to create balance, the danger of getting caught up in the stories and emotions, the pressure to "save" the relationship. All this is made worse when there is high conflict with the challenge of cutting through all the drama. In this workshop we'll talk about the challenges of working with such couples, discuss the goals, as well as walk through the focus and techniques of the opening sessions so clients leave feeling differently when they out than when they walked in. Finally, we'll look at treatment maps for common issues--affairs, parenting differences, sex, impact of AD/HD.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Describe the 3 obstacles to intimate relationships
2. Discuss the 4 sources of resistance
3. Describe 3 ways of changing the emotional climate
4. Discuss the use of Bowen's differentiated self as model of assessment

Recommended Readings: 

• Taibbi, R. Doing couple therapy, 2nd ed. 2017
• Taibbi, R. Brief therapy with couples and families in crisis. 2014
• Taibbi, R. Boot camp therapy: action oriented approaches to anger, anxiety and depression, 2013
• Taibbi, R. The Art of the First Session. 2016