Couples seeking therapy are often trapped in highly reactive cycles they can’t escape on their own. Michele Scheinkman will present a collaborative multi-level approach and practical road map to guide the therapeutic process. She will demonstrate how therapists can create a “holding environment” to help contain couples’ anxiety and escalation and then how to proceed sequentially to explore and intervene on interactional, organizational, intrapsychic, and intergenerational factors that may be informing the couples dynamics.

Major focus will be on how to use the construct of the vulnerability cycle to help transform couples dilemmas: from reactivity to responsibility for their own feelings and behavior; from impasse to a greater ability to reflect, express feelings, listen, negotiate and make choices.

Case examples will focus on various issues such as sexuality, intimacy and infidelity. The course will include didactic sessions, tapes and live case consultations.

Faculty: Michele Scheinkman, LCSW, former director of training, Chicago Center for Family Health; lecturer, The University of Chicago; a previous consultant, Roberto Clemente Center; co-author, Family Process 2004, The Vulnerability Cycle: Working With Impasses In Couples Therapy; author, Family Process 2005, Literary Essay Beyond the Trauma of Betrayal: Reconsidering Affairs in Couples Therapy; author, Family Process 2008, The Multi-Level Approach: A Road Map for Couple’s Therapy; adjunct faculty, Ackerman Institute.

Date: Mondays, beginning February 2, 2009, 8 sessions
Time: 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Tuition: $960 Deposit of $480 payable upon acceptance into the program. Balance is due by August 1.
Continuing Education Credits: 16

Application Form

Back