Year II Educational Objectives

Can I Be Real with You? True and False Selves in Couple Therapy

Sherry Dickey, Ph.D.

To be able to describe two purposes of the false self
Winnicott described degrees of false self; to be able to describe two
To be able to explain how the baby begins to adopt a false self that lasts into adulthood and influences the choice of a partner
To be able to describe how false self affects intimacy

Couples and Parenthood

Linda Camlin, Ph.D.

To be able to describe the major intrapsychic, relational, systemic, cultural, and racial domains of a couple's life impacted during the transition to parenthood
To be able to identify two essential benefits of parents having developed a "creative couple" capacity
To be able to identify and describe intergenerational themes in a couple's life that are woven into the development of their present family system.

Linda Camlin, Ph.D.

To be able to describe the major intrapsychic, relational, systemic, cultural, and racial domains of a couple's life impacted during the transition to parenthood
To be able to identify two essential benefits to parents having developed a "creative couple" capacity
To be able to identify and describe intergenerational themes in a couple's life that are woven into the development of their present family system

Race and Other Sociocultural Dimensions of our Work with Couples

Paul Efthim, Ph.D. and Katie Naftzger, Ph.D.

To be able to reflect and identify on professional experiences in which discomfort around sociocultural differences may have impacted the treatment process
To be able to define the concepts of white guilt and white shame, and identify at least two ways these emotions can be used constructively in the couple therapy process
To be able to describe three approaches that white therapists can employ to support couples of color facing systemic racism.

The Fight to be Right: High-Conflict and Aggression in Couple Therapy

Larry Chud, M.D.

To be able to describe two characteristics of Narcissistic rage that distinguishes it from other forms of aggression
To be able to identify two approaches suggested by a self-psychology approach to manage intense conflict between members of a couple as reported or experienced during sessions
To be able to identify two therapist countertransference reactions to couples who attack each other and/or the therapist

Betrayal in Relationships: Infidelity and Couples Therapy

Joe Shay, Ph.D.

To be able to identify the multiple kinds of affairs and betrayals in relationships
To be able to specify the various stages of treatment for couples in which an affair or betrayal has been an issue
To be able to predict the various therapeutic challenges of working with couples in which an affair or betrayal has been an issue and to utilize these predictions in preparing the ongoing treatment

Sexual and Gender Diversity in Couple Therapy

Jenn Bortle, Ph.D.

To be able to describe the concepts of gender and sexual orientation, including concepts of gender identity, gender expression and sex assigned at birth as well as a variety of sexual orientations
To recognize heteronormative and cis-normative bias and describe how it might impact LGBTQ couples in the consulting room and in their world and to increase awareness of such bias in professional and clinical language and in oneself as a clinician and describe ways to mitigate this bias with more inclusive language use and increased therapist self-awareness.
To describe issues unique to LGBTQ couples that might be relevant to their treatment.

Moral and Ethical Dimensions of Couple Therapy

Alistair McKnight, Psya.D., LMHC

To be able to discuss some and explain how a therapist's personal moral stances can influence clinical interventions, and describe one way in which this can be ethically mitigated
To be able to explain, and apply clinically, how questions of equity and fairness enter into a couple's conflicts
To be able to discuss the potential pitfalls of different strategies around confidentiality when treating a couple in which one partner is actively having an affair

Separation and Divorce

Mary C. Kiely, Ph.D. and Oona Metz, LICSW

To be able to describe potential countertransferential challenges of working with couples considering separation or divorce
To be able to describe in what ways the therapeutic focus of a couple therapy will shift once a decision to end a relationship occurs and to discern one's comfort level with seeing couples post the divorce decision
To be able to describe the use of Winnicott's concept of the transitional object as it relates to a co-parent plan

Which Way is Up and Why is that Song Playing in My Head?
The Therapist’s Self in Couple Treatment

Risa Weinrit, Psy.D.

To be able to identify and describe some of the varied ways that the couple's therapist may register communications from the couple
To be able to discuss some ways that a couple's therapist may use information that is communicated and processed through non-verbal and non-conscious modes to understand and intervene therapeutically with the couple
To be able to discuss some therapeutic advantages and pitfalls to developing a greater openness to using one's own affective states and reveries to help the therapist engage the couple

Playing with Fire: The Peril and Potential of Play in Couple Therapy

Brent Reynolds, LMHC

To be able to describe some of the risks and benefits of applying a conceptual framework of play in clinical process with couples
To be able to identify and apply effective interventions in order to nurture flexibility, variability, and spontaneity in the couple interaction
To be able to describe how the therapist's facilitation of the process of play, in relation to and between the couple, represents a particular kind of therapeutic action enhancing mentalization, affect regulation and a more secure attachment