Couples Resources
This page, organized by the type of program, summarizes the various couples resources that are offered by The Couples Institute. These are in addition to couples therapy, which is described here. Couples Workshops Sign up to join Michelle Wangler Joy, M.A., MFT, for the next Couples Communication Workshop to learn skills to overcome stubborn relationship […]
Highlights from Psychology of Health, Immunity and Disease Conference
As 2011 draws to a close, I thought I’d share with you a few of the useful things I learned at the NICABM Conference on the Psychology of Health and Immunity. I enjoy this conference so much because it exposes me to so many interesting perspectives beyond the psychotherapy world. John Cacioppo John Cacioppo, a […]
Fear of Couples Therapy
Many therapists are drawn to doing psychotherapy in order to be helpers and also because we enjoy the closeness with our clients. Individual therapy can be calming and comfortable. It feels good and we often like the experience of providing support and unconditional positive regard to our clients. I don’t mean to imply that individual […]
Attachment and Differentiation in Directing Change
The beginning of each year is a time when I reflect on my own goals for the year and also stop and think about whether I have a clear direction with each of my clients. I frequently check in with each partner to see that we have agreement about their focus. Developing a strong direction […]
Challenging Choice Points for Using the Initiator-Inquirer Process
This article is specifically for you if you use the Initiator-Inquirer process in your work with couples. The Initiator-Inquirer helps partners repair emotional upset while increasing the differentiation in each partner. Often the therapist is confronted with challenging choice points about which partner to focus on, when it is impossible to work deeply with both […]
Caring For Yourself So You Can Care For Others
We live in a world of so much turmoil: September 11, Middle-East unrest and terrorism, nuclear worries, Katrina, Rita, and more. As therapists, we continually face clients dealing with their own challenges and their reactions to upheaval at home and beyond. For this month I had written a technical newsletter about some of the intricacies […]
How To Be a More Effective Couples Therapist
By Helping Yourself or Getting Help From Other Colleagues As another school year begins, I reflect on it as a time of beginnings and endings. For me, I have just lived through the joy, excitement and sadness of taking my daughter Molly to college. How exhilarating to see the sparkle in her eye as she […]
New Homework Assignment
I am often asked the questions, “How do I assign relevant homework to couples that I am seeing? Do you have suggestions for fine tuning homework uniquely to each couple?” This month I thought I would share an easy to use, yet highly productive homework assignment. This assignment deepens each partner’s understanding of how the […]
5 Principles for Sustaining Intimacy in Your Marriage
The following list highlights some of the principles that we believe are most helpful in creating and sustaining intimacy. Some of these principles are counterintuitive. 1. The foundation for ongoing sustained intimacy comes from partners being able to explore, appreciate and presevere in managing differences rather than similarities. Almost everything is predicated on this first […]
New Ways to Create Collaboration for Severely Distressed Couples
October is here. Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas all quickly tumble into the family, creating stress for couples. School has been underway long enough for kids’ schedules, the demands of various activities, and homework challenges to create additional stress. Couples start fighting much more than they did in the summer months. Their lack of ability to […]
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