• Overview

    This course will focus on doing effective relational work in the midst of specific challenges in couple therapy, including working with trauma, maintaining stable and cohesive relationships, healing from infidelity, addressing consensual non-monogamy, working well across cultural differences and different attachment needs.

  • Course Detail

    Treating Couples: Surmounting Challenges

    Couples therapy presents complexity unlike any other form of therapy, and today's couples therapists need to address increasingly difficult situations. Effective couples therapy requires clinicians to understand and address many relational challenges in an intimate context that can sometimes invite defensiveness and repetition of problematic patterns. In addition, the persistent stress of our socio-political-cultural contexts has been a strain on couples and therapists alike.

    This course will focus on doing effective relational work in the midst of specific challenges including working with trauma, maintaining stable and cohesive relationships, healing from infidelity, addressing consensual non-monogamy, working well across cultural differences and different attachment needs.

    We will also enhance participants' learning about the therapeutic position of a couples therapist using concepts from Internal Family Systems Therapy, Emotionally Focused Therapy, Socioculturally Attuned Couple Therapy, and other integrative models.

    We will continue the series format this year to delve deeper and allow ample time for audience interaction and questions. Clinicians will gain key strategies to help advance their treatment skills and improve their effectiveness.

    Who Should Attend

    • Primary Care Physicians
    • Specialty Physicians
    • Psychologists
    • Social Workers
    • Counselors
    • Family Therapists

    Learning Objectives

    Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

    • Identify how the Internal Family Systems Model understands the primary route to healing trauma.
    • Summarize the basic insights of attachment science and how they offer a map to the core interventions, and the potent change events of Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) that consistently predict positive results in therapy. In addition, outline how EFT addresses depression and the echoes of trauma in distressed partners.
    • Apply sociocultural attunement as a conceptual framework to assess larger context influences on relational power dynamics in couple relationships and identify ways to transform power processes.
    • Identify strategies to effectively coach both betrayed and unfaithful partners to undertake specific tasks to manage intense feelings and master skills for navigating the complex road to recovery.
    • Define and understand different forms of open couples relationships, including the ethical principles differentiating these romantic and sexual practices from betrayal and disloyalty.

    ABMS/ACGME Competencies

    This course is designed to meet the following American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) / Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Educational (ACGME) competencies:

    • Patient Care and Procedural Skills
    • Interpersonal and Communication Skills
    • Professionalism

    IOM Competencies

    This course is designed to meet the following Institute of Medicine Core Competencies:

    • Provide Patient-Centered Care
    • Employ Evidence-Based Practice
    Course Directors

    Karen J. Kuc, MPH
    Elizabeth G. Brenner, LICSW
    Jill Harkaway, EdD

  • Agenda

    Thursday, November 9, 2023

    12:00- 12:50 PM
    IFS, Trauma and Couples
    Richard Schwartz, PhD

    12:50-1:30 PM
    Discussion / Q&A
    Richard Schwartz, PhD; Elizabeth Brenner, LICSW; Jill Harkaway, EdD

    Thursday, November 16, 2023

    12:00- 12:50 PM
    Attachment Science: EFT as a Way Forward for Couples Intervention
    Sue Johnson, EdD

    12:50-1:30 PM
    Discussion / Q&A
    Sue Johnson, EdD, Elizabeth Brenner, LICSW; Jill Harkaway, EdD

    Thursday, November 30, 2023

    12:00- 12:50 PM
    Socioculturally Attuned Couple Therapy in Practice
    Lana Kim, PhD

    12:50-1:30 PM
    Discussion / Q&A
    Lana Kim, PhD; Elizabeth Brenner, LICSW; Jill Harkaway, EdD

    Thursday, December 7, 2023

    12:00- 12:50 PM
    Healing From Infidelity: Unorthodox Strategies that Work
    Michele Weiner-Davis, MSW

    12:50-1:30 PM
    Discussion / Q&A
    Michele Weiner-Davis, MSW; Elizabeth Brenner, LICSW; Jill Harkaway, EdD

    Thursday, December 14, 2023

    12:00- 12:50 PM
    Coloring Outside of the Lines: Exploring Ethical, Loyal and Consensual Non-Monogamy
    Jean Malpas, LMHC, LMFT

    12:50-1:30 PM
    Discussion / Q&A
    Jean Malpas, LMHC, LMFT; Elizabeth Brenner, LICSW; Jill Harkaway, EdD
  • Faculty
    Elizabeth Brenner, LICSW

    Director, Therapy Training Boston
    Supervisor, Couples and Family Therapy Program, Cambridge Health Alliance
    Teaching Associate in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
    Private Practice, Watertown, MA

    Jill Harkaway, EdD

    Senior Faculty and Consultant, Couples and Family Therapy, Cambridge Health Alliance
    Assistant Professor in Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
    Co-Director, Couples Therapy Project
    Private Practice, Newton MA

    Sue Johnson, EdD

    Founder, Emotionally Focused Couples and Family Therapy (EFT)
    Distinguished Research Professor, Alliant University (San Diego)
    Professor Emeritus of Clinical Psychology, University of Ottawa
    Clinical faculty, University of British Columbia’s Department of Psychiatry

    Lana Kim, PhD

    Program Director and Associate Professor, Marriage, Couple, & Family Therapy, Lewis & Clark College Graduate School

    Jean Malpas, LMHC, LMFT

    Founder, Gender & Family Project, Ackerman Institute for the Family; Private Practice, New York City

    Richard Schwartz, PhD

    President, IFS Institute
    Teaching Associate, Harvard Medical School

    Michele Weiner-Davis, MSW

    Director, The Divorce Busting Center

  • CE Information

    In support of improving patient care, Harvard Medical School is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

    Physicians

    The Harvard Medical School is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The Harvard Medical School designates this live virtual activity for a maximum of 7.50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

    Psychologists

    The Cambridge Health Alliance, Psychiatry Continuing Education Division, is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Cambridge Health Alliance, Psychiatry Continuing Education Division, maintains responsibility for this program and its content. This course offers 7.50 continuing education credits.

    Social Workers

    This program has been approved for a total of 7.5 Social Work Continuing Education hours for re-licensure, in accordance with 258 CMR. NASW-MA Chapter CE Approval Program Authorization Number D 91982-2. NY Social Workers: The Division of Continuing Education in Psychiatry at Cambridge Health Alliance is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an Approved Provider #0038 of continuing education for licensed social workers. This course has been approved for 7.50 contact hours.

    Counselors

    The Cambridge Health Alliance, Psychiatry Continuing Education Division, has been approved by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) as an approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 5444. This program meets the requirements for 7.50 continuing education hours. CHA is solely responsible for all aspects of the program. This offering is also applicable for Commonwealth of Massachusetts Counseling/Allied Mental Health accreditation for 7.50 credits.

    Family Therapists

    This activity has been certified by New England Association for Family and Systemic Therapy on behalf of the Massachusetts Board of Registration of Allied Mental Health and Human Services Professions, for LMFT professional continuing education, Certificate #PC-041982, for a total of 7.5 contact hours. The States of CT and RI accept NBCC and NASW approval for marriage and family therapy.

    Physician Assistants, Nurse Practitioners and Registered Nurses

    For the purpose of recertification, the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants, the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board and the American Nurses Credentialing Center accept AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ issued by organizations accredited by the ACCME. We would also suggest that learners check with their state licensing board to ensure they accept reciprocity with AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ for re-licensure.

    Canadian Accreditation

    The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada recognizes conferences and workshops held outside of Canada that are developed by a university, academy, hospital, specialty society or college as accredited group learning activities.

    European Accreditation

    The American Medical Association (AMA) has an agreement of mutual recognition of continuing medical education (CME) credit with the European Union of Medical Specialties (UEMS). Additional information regarding this agreement may be found here: https://www.uems.eu/areas-of-expertise/cme-cpd/eaccme

    Disclosure Policy

    In accord with the disclosure policy of the Medical School as well as standards set forth by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), course planners, speakers, and content reviewers have been asked to disclose any relationships they have to companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. In addition, faculty have been asked to list any off-label uses of pharmaceuticals and/or devices for investigational or non-FDA approved purposes that they plan to discuss.

    Disclaimer

    CME activities accredited by Harvard Medical School are offered solely for educational purposes and do not constitute any form of certification of competency. Practitioners should always consult additional sources of information and exercise their best professional judgement before making clinical decisions of any kind.

    Note: AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ is calculated based on submission of a preliminary agenda and may be subject to change.

  • Fees

    Tuition for Treating Couples: Surmounting Challenges is listed below. You may register through our secure online environment and will receive an email confirmation upon receipt of your payment. Electronic syllabus and access to recordings for 30 days after the course are included.

    At the end of the registration process, a $10 non-refundable processing fee will be added to your registration. Refunds, less an administrative fee of $75, will be issued for all cancellations received at least two weeks prior to the start of the course. Refund requests must be made in our secure online system or by email. “No shows” are subject to the full course fee.

    Course Tuition

    Course Registration - Treating Couples: Surmounting Challenges

    Physician (MD/DO)

    $250.00 / ($225 if registered by Wednesday, October 11, 2023)


    Nurse (RN/APRN)

    $195.00 / ($175 if registered by Wednesday, October 11, 2023)


    Resident/Fellow

    $195.00 / ($175 if registered by Wednesday, October 11, 2023)


    Allied Health Professional / Other

    $195.00 / ($175 if registered by Wednesday, October 11, 2023)

    Tuition includes electronic syllabus.

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