Enhancing the Impact of Couples Therapy

Parts 1 & 2

Susan Johnson & Daniel Siegel

Understanding the neurobiology of the brain not only explains how change happens, it also translates into more effective psychotherapy. In this dynamic workshop, a psychotherapist and a neuropsychiatrist offer a dialogue demonstrating the relevance of neuroscience to the process of repairing couples’ relationships. Together, the presenters will review recorded couples therapy sessions to explore how neurobiological insights can inform and help shape a therapist’s moment-by-moment decision-making. You’ll discover how to:

• “Read” clients’ facial and body language as outward signs of their brain function and emotional processing
• Use this knowledge to select and time interventions more effectively
• Make your interventions more efficient by tapping into the processes of relational regulation
• Determine when clients can’t self-soothe or access higher brain functions and intervene accordingly

Continued with workshop 303

Susan Johnson, EdD, the developer of Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples and Families, is the director of The International Center for Excellence in EFT. She’s also the author of Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love and Love Sense: The Revolutionary New Science of Romantic Relationships.

Daniel Siegel, MD, is a neuropsychiatrist and a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine, founding codirector of the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center, and the executive director of the Mindsight Institute. His latest book is Mind: A Journey to the Heart of Being Human.