On the Eve of Destruction: Last Chance Couple Therapy with Peter Fraenkel, Ph.D

A badly broken marriage or other committed relationship -- in which both partners show high levels of mutual anger and disdain and low levels of patience, good will, or hope and one or both partners may not even really want things to get better, doesn't seem to hold promise for clinical salvation. It's possible, however, to turn even the most hopeless relationships around. In this workshop, we'll explore how to engage reluctant partners in therapy without making them feel trapped in an unhappy future. Though videotaped and audiotaped demonstrations, you'll learn how to:

• restore hope when couples seem about to give up
• carry out an engaging and nonthreatening first session
• Introduce fresh perspectives on problems and engage clients in trying changes  that they’re absolutely unprepared for and that feel irrational to do
• offer strategies for safeguarding communication and restarting passion and pleasure

Although we'll focus on four major types of Last Chance Couples, the approach applies to couples at any level of distress.

Learning Objectives:

1. Attendees will be able to list the 4 types of Last Chance Couples
2. Attendees be able to list the 11 foci of Last Chance Couple Therapy
3. Attendees will be able to list the 8 steps in creating a non-binding “micro-contract” for therapy
4. Attendees will be able to describe the practice of “de-emergencizing” and will be able to perform the mindful breathing & Qi Gong sequence recommended to couples for self and mutual soothing
5. Attendees will be able to list and describe 4 “low risk/high yield activities designed to stimulate pleasure for couples

Register Now!$150 per Ticket.  This seminar offers 3.25 clinical, 1.5 ethical, and 1.75 general continuing education hours.

Light Breakfast! One (1) hour break for lunch!

Only MasterCard and Visa accepted. If you are Tulane University faculty, staff, adjunct or DSW student, please contact jstpierre@tulane.edu for promo code.

Peter Fraenkel, Ph.D

Peter Fraenkel, PhD, is Director of the Ackerman Institute for the Family’s Center for Work and Family; Associate Professor of Psychology, Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, The City College of The City University of New York; and former Vice President of the American Family Therapy Academy. He co-authored with Marcia Sheinberg The Relational Trauma of Incest: A Family-Based Approach to Treatment, and he has published widely and presented workshops internationally on the topic of prevention approaches to couple relationships and the impact of time, work and technology on families. Dr. Fraenkel is also in private practice.