Upcoming The Therapeutic Alliance: The Science, Craft, and Art of Creating, Repairing, and Maintaining Our Relationships with Couples [In Person]

The quality of the therapeutic relationship or “alliance” we form with couples is the single most important factor in determining whether a therapy will be successful or not. Research demonstrates that there must be agreement on the goals, on the “tasks” or activities that the therapist and clients will engage in, and that there must be a positive emotional bond between therapist and clients. The therapist’s genuineness, warmth, empathy, and structuring of the sessions are crucial elements – but what exactly does that involve in terms of the therapist’s “micro moves” in the often-rapid, intense swirl of the therapeutic process? One study found that the alliance in couple therapy doesn’t change much between the first session and later sessions. Therefore, the central focus of the first session must be to establish a good working relationship.  

This workshop will take a “deep dive” into the complexities of establishing and maintaining an alliance with couples by drawing on the presenters’ own research in couple therapy, established craft, and creative, experiential methods, and using a mix of lecture, videotaped sessions, and role plays with transcripts. As two highly-experienced therapists, trainers, and researchers, Dr. Borsca and Dr. Fraenkel will share a wealth of techniques to address the following questions:

How do we establish an alliance when… 

1. One partner thinks there’s a problem to be addressed and the other does not?  
2. Partners don’t agree on the goals, or differ in their willingness to engage in therapeutic activities and “homework”?
3. One partner wants to save a troubled marriage, and the other is strongly considering leaving?
4. One partner doesn’t believe in therapy altogether?   
5. The couple has been in therapy before, and found it unhelpful or even made things worse? 
6. A partner has engaged in value- or safety-violating behaviors such as infidelity, overuse of substances, emotional abuse, or violence?
7. There are power differences between partners, based on their respective social locations of race, ethnicity, class and income, gender and gender identity, age, and other dimensions of difference? 
8. A partner holds beliefs or makes statements that the therapist finds personally or generally offensive? 

We will also describe reliable methods to turn the inevitable “ruptures” between therapist and clients into models of how couples can repair after conflict; and will discuss how an integrative approach to therapy that systematically combines action- and insight-oriented techniques increases the perceived “credibility” of the therapy, which has recently been established as another central factor in creating a viable alliance. 

Learning Objectives:

• To list the three core elements of a therapeutic alliance and the four alliances required in working with a couple
• To list the five key steps in conducting a first session with a couple  
• To describe four techniques to address and resolve a partner’s “resistance” to participating in therapy and their different viewpoints on the goals and tasks of therapy  
• To describe the six steps to establishing the therapeutic frame with “last chance couples” in which one partner is considering ending the relationship while the other wants to save it 
• To list the eight ways in which partners engage in power struggles and four techniques for addressing those struggles 
• To describe an approach for therapists to identify and manage their personal vulnerabilities and ethical sensibilities that may be activated by a client’s comments or behaviors
• To describe an approach for differentiating the current therapeutic approach from disappointing previous therapy experiences 
• To describe chances and risks in doing couple therapy in co-therapy 

Presenters: