Structure
This workshop features the Experiential approaches to couples therapy of Rob Fisher, MFT, Hakomi Trainer, and Dr. Sue Johnson, Founder of Emotionally Focused Therapy. Rob will present on the first four days of the training; he will focus on the use of mindfulness in couples therapy and provide a strong base for both assessment and intervention. Sue will teach on the final day (June 7) and will focus on the the use of attachment theory for assessment and intervention. The combination of this two is natural and additive.

Mindfulness
Mindfulness is one of the most powerful tools in couples psychotherapy. Externally focused mindfulness allows the therapist to notice the subtle messages each partner communicates directly from their implicit beliefs and models of the world.

Internally focused mindfulness allows clients to “act in” instead of “acting out” with each other. It assists them to gently access and talk about deep levels of delicate material that underlie the repetitive patterns in which they become mired. They can step out of adversarial and into vulnerable and collaborative interactions.

Attachment
Emotionally Focused Therapy helps couples access attachment wounds and communicate about them in vulnerable ways that deepen the connection and help couples out of the entrenched patterns that plague them. The clear map of adult love and loving offered by attachment theory helps the therapist to tune into the neural duet, the life and death drama defining a distressed relationship and restructure pivotal moments so that partners can move from isolation and frustration into a felt sense of security and lasting satisfaction.

Experiential Couples Therapy
Working experientially, mindfully, and from an attachment perspective adds significant depth, impact and aliveness for therapist and client alike. In this workshop you will learn the principles and practical interventions that use present moment experience 1) to gently access unconscious characterological organization, and 2) to explore and change core interactional patterns in couples relationships. Mixing didactic segments with demonstrations, experiential exercises, and actual skills practice, this training will provide both theory and techniques for practitioners to feel more confident and work more effectively with couples.

Topics Covered

• Specific experiential principles and techniques in couples therapy
• How to apply mindfulness with couples.
• How to join deeply and create safety and support with each partner in their immediate experiences.
• Maps for assessing couples dynamics and systems, and each partner’s contributions.
• Neurobiological factors in couples work.
• How to befriend and utilize individual defensive responses.
• How to engage each person’s innate resources.
• How to track somatic signals to access unconscious relational material.
• How to design clinical experiments that go both to the heart of the issue, and the hearts of the partners.

For Whom
This training is for professional therapists and allied health workers. If you have taken the Hakomi training prior to this workshop you do not need to attend the first day of this workshop which will focus on tracking nonverbal signs from the unconscious, joining skills utilizing present moment experience and using mindfulness for intrapsychic exploration

C.E.U.s
This training provides 30 continuing education credits for MFCC's or LCSW's as required by the California Board of Behavioral Science.

Logistics 

Dates:

• Saturday & Sunday April 28-29, 2012 (Faculty: Rob Fisher)
  
• Saturday & Sunday June 2-3, 2012 (Faculty: Rob Fisher)
• Thursday June 7, 2012, 2012 (Faculty: Sue Johnson)

Times: 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM

Location: San Francisco Theological Seminary, San Anselmo, CA.

Costs:

• General Public: Early registration by March 1, 2012: $795. After March 1: $890.
• Graduates of a Hakomi Training may be excused from the first day, April 28, as this day will cover skills you have already learned (e.g., listening to the nonverbal signals from implicit knowledge stored in the unconscious, joining skills based on present moment experience and the use of mindfulness in psychodynamic exploration). The cost for the remaining 4 days is $650 if registered by March 1, 2012. After March 1: $745.

There are limited spaces in this workshop, so please register early if you would like to come.

Refund Policy: Any student may withdraw from the Training by April1, 2012 andreceive a full refund, minus a $50 administrative fee. If you withdraw between April 2 and April 18, you will receive a refund of half the tuition, minus a $50 administrative fee. After April 18, no refunds will be given, regardless of attendance.

To Apply either send your check to: Hakomi Institute of California, 3701 Sacramento St, #302, San Francisco, CA 94118 or call in your credit card number to 415 839-6788 (include, name, credit card number, security code, billing address).

More Information: For more information about training: contact the Hakomi Institute of California at (415) 839-6788 or email contact@hakomicalifornia.org.

Download: Flyer

Rob Fisher, MFT, is a psychotherapist, consultant and CAMFT certified supervisor in private practice in Mill Valley, CA. He is an adjunct professor at JFK University and at CIIS and the Co-Developer and Lead Instructor in the Certificate Program in Mindfulness and Compassion for Psychotherapists at CIIS in San Francisco. He is also a Hakomi Trainer who teaches Hakomi Mindfulness Based Experiential Psychotherapy internationally. He is the author of Experiential Psychotherapy with Couples, A Guide for the Creative Pragmatist, published by Zeig/Tucker, in addition to numerous articles published in the US and abroad. He has been a Master and Peer Presenter at annual CAMFT Conferences, the USABP Conference and Psychotherapy Networker Conference.

Dr. Sue Johnson is Director of the International Center for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy and Distinguished Research Professor at Alliant University in San Diego, California as well as Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Ottawa, Canada. She has received numerous honors for her work, including the Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Couple and Family Therapy Award from the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and the Research in Family Therapy Award from the American Family Therapy Academy. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association. Dr. Johnson's best known professional books include, The Practice of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy: Creating Connection (2004) and Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy with Trauma Survivors (2002). She trains counselors in EFT worldwide and consults to Veterans Affairs, the U.S. and Canadian military and New York City Fire Department. She lives in Ottawa with her husband, two children and dog. She adores Gilbert and Sullivan, Monty Python, Argentine tango and kayaking on Canada’s northern lakes.