Introduction to couples counselling

It’s likely that, as a therapist or counsellor, you probably found couples counselling wasn’t covered in much detail in your initial training. And if it’s something you’re now interested in, you’ll probably find most courses are one or two years long.

But it is possible to learn the fundamentals of couples counselling in a short course. This introduction to couples counselling is a four-day course and will provide you with the key principles and techniques you can start putting into practice to help your clients.

You’ll be able to benefit from this training whichever situation you’re in:

• if you’re already working in this field, it can help you better understand and deal with issues and challenges you may already be encountering.
• If you’re thinking of moving into this field, it will help you understand what you need to bear in mind, and give you a basic grounding in how to handle the distinctive challenges of couples therapy. 
• Even if you don’t work with couples, this course will help inform your individual work, as I believe that ultimately all the work we do is relational.

Dates:

Days one and two: 28th-29th January 2017 (10am to 5pm).

Days three and four: 4th-5th March 2017 (10am to 5pm).

Ideally, both weekends (four days) are needed to learn the basics of couples counselling. But each weekend also stands alone, so it’s possible to sign up for either of the weekends as a taster and then register for the other weekend at a later date if you wish. It is planned to run this four-day course at least twice per year (further dates will be posted asap).

Weekend one – 28th and 29th January 2017

Day one

• Philosophy and theory of couples counselling.
• The role of the therapist in couples counselling.
• Different models of couples counselling.
• Essential communication skills to teach your couples.
• The basics of non-confrontational communication.
• Couples dialogue.

Day two

• Transference in the couple relationship.
• Mechanisms of attraction and partner selection.
• Attachment vs. differentiation; working with conflict and emotions.
• Attachment patterns and mechanisms of disconnection.
• Working with the couple’s defeating pattern or dance of disconnection.

Weekend two – 4th and 5th March 2017

Day three

• Stages of relationship from romance to power struggle to co-creation.
• Working with the stages and developmental tasks.
• Working with hostile couples, understanding and de-escalating conflict, bonding exercises.
• Working with avoidant couples; face the elephant in the room.

Day four

• Ethical dilemmas in couples counselling.
• Homework and exercises for couples clients.
• How to conduct your first couples session, theory and format, determining client intentions.
• Making a treatment plan for the journey ahead.

Venue: Greenwich, London SE10 (one minute walk from Greenwich DLR)

Early bird price: £200 per weekend and additional discount (£375) for four-day booking.

For more information: www.couplescounsellingtraining.com

Or call Debbie Winterbourne: 07952 593201.