This course can be done entirely distance learning through Zoom Videoconference

Wednesdays from 9:45am to 11:45am Eastern Time.

Foundations of Psychoanalytic Couple Therapy distance learning course will focus on special topics and challenges in the practice of psychoanalytic couple therapy, using didactic lectures, case presentations, discussion, and advance readings. The course will feature presenters from the International Psychotherapy Institute and colleagues from England, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, UAE, Scotland, and the US. Register by semester or individual class with special discounted price for semester enrollment, including free subscription to the Couple and Family Psychoanalysis Journal for a full-year enrollment.

This course is one component of the Psychoanalytic Couple Therapy Certificate Program. Click for More Information about the full Certificate Program.

***Registrants in this course are encouraged to also attend the one-day online course Fundamentals of Psychoanalytic Couple Therapy on September 10, 2022.  Click for more information on and registration for the one-day course.

Program Chair

David Scharff, M.D. and Carla Trusty-Smith, Ph.D., LMHC

Program Date(s):

September 14, 2022 - May 3, 2023

 

 

REGISTER for the entire Academic Year Fall 2022-Spring2023

 

Educational Objectives

Overall Course Objective 

Participants in this course will enhance their repertoire of psychoanalytic couple therapy and technique regarding how to discriminate specific couple syndromes from individual partner difficulties.

Process and issues in gender transition 

Participants will be able to:

1. discuss two ethical concerns in treating transgender clients.
2. give two reasons for the need for evidence-based treatment considerations for medical and surgical interventions for transgender clients in light of contemporary developmental understanding.

Working with Couples in the Tavistock Relations Model

Participants will be able to:

1.  explain what a projective system in a couple is, when defensive and when more developmental and give one example of each.
2. describe two ways in which couple respond to differences between partners.

The personal, the political and the psychotherapeutic in couples

Participants will be able to:

1.  give two examples of environmental impacts on therapeutic process.
2. enumerate three dynamics of interpersonal violence.

Extra-Marital Affairs

Participants will be able to:

1. describe two couple dynamics that have potential to lead to extra-marital affairs.
2. describe three techniques of intervention that may help couples to resolve deep-seated differences following affairs.

The Vicissitudes of Hate in Mature Love.

Participants will be able to:

1. give three examples of the role of aggressive objective relations as functions of frustration of need.
2. utilize couple therapy case material to identify two aspects of the concept of deficits in capacity to love.

Participants will be able to:

1. Identify 2 reasons why it is necessary to hold ambiguity and uncertainty in mind, and to maintain an ethical stance of not-knowing, when working with families exploring gender identity
2. Explain 3 reasons for considering the developmental influences of familial and socio-cultural factors when working with families exploring gender identity.
3. Name 3 psychoanalytic psychotherapy techniques employed to deepen parent and child work with families exploring gender identity.

Partner Violence 

Participants will be able to:

1. describe three developmental factors that predispose to partner violence
2. list four strategic elements for successful intervention in couples exhibiting violence.

 Transference and countertransference in couple psychoanalysis

Participants will be able to:

1. identify at 2 parallel unconscious individual and intersubjective processes.
2. list two dynamics of transference and countertransference in couple psychoanalysis and give one example of each at intersubjective and the intrasubjective levels.

Dance and The Creative Couple.

Participants will be able to:

1. list three elements of couples’ unconscious dance in each of three couples described in the presentation.
2. describe two effects of weak leadership and two effects of overly strong leadership in couple relationships.

Contemporary Sufferings, Production of Subjectivities and the Analytic Experience.

Participants will be able to:

1. explain two central concepts of Link Theory in the task of understanding couple dynamics.
2.  apply three modes of intervention for couple suffering that relates to the current social environment.

Angelika Mellema case presentation

Participants will be able to:

1. give two examples of using transference and countertransference concepts in a couple case.
2. describe three aspects of the object relations dynamics in the presented couple case.

Psychoanalytic Play: Dramatization, Narration and Improvisation in Field Theory and Metapsychology. 

Participants will be able to:

1. describe three elements of psychoanalytic play in the field of couple therapy
2. elaborate on two methods of therapeutic improvisation in couple therapy.

Play it again Sam: Couple therapy and psychoanalytic psychodrama

Participants will be able to:

1. describe three essential elements of psychodramatic technique relevant to analytic couple therapy.
2. identify two dynamics elaborated through psychodrama in the cases presented.

Karin Holland Biggs case presentation

Participants will be able to:

1. state two examples of using transference and countertransference concepts in a couple case.
2. describe three aspects of the object relations dynamics in the presented couple case.

Thinking under fire: mentalization-based couple therapy for high conflict and domestically abusive couples’

Participants will be able to:

1. list three common responses to high conflict and domestically abusive couple relationships and give two examples each of indications and counterindications for couple therapy.
2. utilize case material to provide two principals of assessment and treatment.
3. describe two modifications to technique when working with domestically abusive couple relationships

Continuing Education Credit Hours

Single Session: 2 hours CE credit

Fall Semester: 14 hours CE credit

Spring Semester: 16 hours CE credit

Registration

Choose your registration option below:

Register for Fall 2022

Register for Spring 2023

Register for entire Academic Year 2022-2023

Use the register links in the schedule above to sign up for a single session

Tuition and Fees

$60 per session (IPI Members $50)

$420 Fall semester (IPI Members $350)

$485 Spring semester (IPI Members $400)

$840 for entire academic year 2022-2023 (IPI Members $715)

Limited scholarship funds are available for this training: https://theipi.org/scholarships/

Benefit for registering for the full Academic Year

Registrants who sign up for both the Fall and Spring semesters of the Foundations of Psychoanalytic Couple Therapy (i.e. the full academic year), will receive a FREE subscription to Couple and Family Psychoanalysis Journal from the IPI.

Learn more about the purpose and background of the journal from our director, Caroline Sehon, and the journal’s editor, Christopher Clulow.

Membership Benefits

Become a member of IPI at the “Associate Member PLUS”, or “Full Member PLUS” level and you will receive an IPI Zoom Pro account as one of your member benefits. Associate and Full Members also receive discounted registration fees for most of IPI’s events, a subscription to PEP Web, the online psychoanalytic library, and other benefits depending on membership level.

HIPAA compliant Zoom video accounts are provided for all IPI Associate Member Plus and Full Member Plus memberships. IPI has a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement with Zoom, which provides a HIPAA compliant platform for our accounts. HIPPA compliance is strongly recommended for all internet-mediated clinical work and clinical teaching. The “PLUS” add-on to the IPI membership gives the user the ability to host online meetings with multiple people at the same time. [Current members can upgrade to the “Plus” account and only pay the difference in price from your current membership level.]

Click for IPI Membership and Zoom Account information

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Should you have any questions about the program or the application process, please feel free to contact:

Carla Trusty-Smith - ccf@theipi.org

Continuing Education Information

The International Psychotherapy Institute, IPI, is approved by The American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. IPI maintains responsibility for the program and its content. The International Psychotherapy Institute has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6017. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. The International Psychotherapy Institute is responsible for all aspects of the programs. The International Psychotherapy Institute is an approved sponsor of the Maryland Board of Social Work Examiners for continuing education credits for licensed social workers in Maryland. The International Psychotherapy Institute 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-0299.

Participants are responsible for verifying that IPI CE credit is accepted by the licensing boards in their own states. Please note: At this time we are aware that CE credit for IPI events will not be accepted by the New Jersey Board of Social Work.