Integrative Psychoanalytic Couple Therapy

Deepen Your Skills with Couples

Novice and experienced therapists alike struggle with the many challenges of couple psychotherapy. Some couples can be helped by simply facilitating a dialogue between the partners, but many others struggle with difficulties related to affect regulation, narcissistic vulnerability, feelings of rage or hopelessness, sequelae of trauma, and other issues which require much more of the couple therapist. This couple therapy program focuses on psychoanalytic theory to help therapists of all types. Psychoanalytic theory is uniquely suited to addressing the deeper roots of such difficulties; however, applying the theory to couples requires specialized training tailored to the unique demands of this modality. This program will address this training need.

Three of Chicago's preeminent couple therapists are the core faculty for the program: Carla Leone Ph.D., Director of the Program, Arthur Nielsen MD, and Karen Bloomberg Ph.D.  They will be joined by guest lecturers and expert couple therapists who will provide individual case consultations for students with an emphasis on integrative couples therapy.  Every effort will be made to honor requests for a particular consultant, but assignments to consultants are made based on multiple factors and this may not always be possible.

Didactic Component

The didactic portion of the program is divided into four sections:

Part I. Basic tenets of psychoanalytic couple therapy: Initial classes will provide an overview of integrative psychoanalytic couple therapy and focus on aspects of psychoanalytic couple therapy common to all psychoanalytic approaches. These include understanding couples’ dynamics in terms of each partner’s history, psychology, and subjectivity; recognizing the influence of unconscious processes on relationships; understanding and managing transference and countertransference (or co-transference) in couple therapy, as well as creating safety, engaging the couple, making interpretations, and so on. The first class will be taught by three core faculty and will focus on getting to know each other and creating a supportive community.

Part II. Major models of psychoanalytic couple therapy: The next section will focus in more depth on five major models of psychoanalytic couple therapy:  Object relations (including both American object relations and the Tavistock model), Self-Psychology, Intersubjective Systems Theory, and Relational Theory. The basic tenets of each model will be highlighted, including how couples’ difficulties are conceptualized and addressed in each approach. The models will also be compared and contrasted to each other.

Part III.  Non-psychoanalytic models and how they may fit within a primarily psychoanalytic approach: This section will examine popular non-psychoanalytic approaches to couple therapy and consider how some aspects might be usefully incorporated into a fundamentally psychoanalytic model. These include systems, neuroscience-based, attachment-based/Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT), The Gottman Method, and Wile’s Collaborative Couple Therapy. Dr. Nielsen will present his model of Integrative Couple Therapy as outlined in his book, A Roadmap for Couple Therapy.  The models will be compared and contrasted with each other and with psychoanalytic approaches.

Part IV.  Application to specific problems or populations: The final section will apply the theories and ideas studied thus far to types of couples and/or their problems. These include same-sex couples; multicultural, inter-cultural, or inter-racial couples; older adult couples and high conflict couples; as well as couples dealing with infidelity, sexual difficulties, illness, disability, substance abuse or trauma histories in one or both partners, and those in conflict about parenting, money, or blended-family issues.

For each class, one to two articles or chapters are assigned, typically no more than 50 pages per week, with a number of others available and recommended but optional.  Each class includes a blend of didactic presentations by faculty members or guest lecturers, as well as time for questions and discussion of the readings. Of the 29 classes, 10 are presented by guest lecturers (with one or more core faculty also present to facilitate) and the remaining 18 by core faculty members Leone, Nielsen and Bloomberg.  Guest lecturers are prominent experts in particular areas of couple therapy, most of whom have authored books and presented widely.  Lecturers to date have included Philip Ringstrom, David Shaddock, Mona Fishbane, Rhonda Goldman, Heather MacIntosh, Patricia Papernow, Jennifer McComb, Arthur Gray, Magdelena Fosse, Sara Schwartzbaum and Michael McNulty.

Students are asked to purchase three paperback books but can access all other required readings, along with the syllabus, through the Orbund platform. A partial syllabus with examples of typical readings to be assigned is available upon request. The full syllabus and reading list will be available upon acceptance and receipt of the initial deposit.

Case Conference Component

Of the 29 Thursday morning classes, 18 will involve lectures and discussion for the first 90 minutes, followed by 75 minutes of clinical case conferences for the second half (after a break). Students will be divided into two small groups of 5-7 participants and will present a case three times over the course of the year, once to each of the three core faculty members. For each presentation, students prepare a 2-3 page write up, including background information about the couple, course of treatment to date and their clinical question for the group and distribute it to group members ahead of time.  One of the core faculty members responds to the material presented and facilitates group discussion of the case. Efforts are made to link the material presented in the didactic component to clinical examples in the case conference component.

Individual Consultation Component

Each accepted student will be assigned an individual case consultant who they will meet with at least ten times over the academic year, typically approximately every other week most months, at a time arranged separately between the student and consultant, outside of the Thursday morning class time.  All consultants are very experienced psychoanalytic couple therapists and clinical supervisors who are offering their time at a reduced rate to support the mission of this program.  Students may use the time with their assigned consultant however they choose; however, in general we recommend students choose one or two couples to follow with the individual consultant over the whole year, and possibly present three different couples in the three case conferences they present in.

Adjunct Clinical Consultants 2024-25:

• Eric Boone, LICSW

• Denise Davis, LCSW

• Robert Feldman, LCSW

• Freddi Friedman, PhD

• Caryle Perlman, LCSW

• Peter Reiner, PhD

• David Shaddock, MFT, PhD

• Karen Skerrett, PhD

• Shelly Smith-Acuna, PhD

Capstone Paper Component

Toward the end of the program, students are asked to write a 5 to 8-page paper articulating their personal theoretical approach to couple therapy, highlighting how it did or did not change over the course of the program, and applying it to a clinical case illustration.  A second option, for those interested in publishing on couple therapy, is to submit a draft of a paper for publication that illustrates the author’s theoretical views and includes a case example. Core faculty members will read and respond to each paper submitted. In the past, one paper submitted for this component eventually led to a paper which was recently published in the peer-reviewed journal Psychoanalysis, Self and Context.

Program Mission

To create a stimulating, supportive learning community that helps master’s and doctoral-level clinicians improve their ability to apply psychoanalytic theory to understanding and working effectively with couples, thereby increasing the availability of excellent psychoanalytic couple therapy for couples of all income levels.

Learning Objectives

By the completion of this program, participants will be able to:

1.      Explain the basic tenets of the major psychoanalytic approaches to couple therapy and compare and contrast them.

2.      Explain the differences between psychoanalytic couple therapy and several non-psychoanalytic models.

3.      Describe how non-psychoanalytic approaches or interventions such as psychoeducation can be incorporated into a fundamentally psychoanalytic framework.

4.      Articulate their personal theoretical orientation to couple therapy (highlighting the psychoanalytic components, if integrative).

5.      Conceptualize couples from a psychoanalytic perspective, including each partner individually as well as their dynamics as a couple.

6.      Demonstrate the ability to apply the theories learned to treating couples in their own practices.

Requirements for Program Completion: 

To be awarded a Certificate of Completion, participants must demonstrate their mastery of the above objectives through class participation, written and oral case presentations and completion of a final capstone paper describing their personal theoretical approach to couples work and applying it to a detailed case example. Additionally, students must have worked with at least two couples throughout the 8 month program.

Continuing Education:

The program consists of 28 three-hour classes, for which a total of 84 CEUs may be earned, if all sessions are attended (plus a wrap-up and good-bye class for which CEs are not awarded). CEs are not available for individual consultation hours.

Admission Process:

Eligibility: The program is intended for licensed master's and doctoral level clinicians with at least two years’ experience as therapists, who have already developed solid skills in conducting individual psychotherapy and wish to develop or expand their skills in couple therapy. Applicants should have either some previous exposure to psychoanalytic theory, some experience and training in couple therapy (which may be from a non-psychoanalytic approach), or both, and be highly likely to be treating at least two couples throughout the program. Some assistance obtaining couple referrals (probably low fee) may be available for US applicants who meet all other admission criteria except the requirement to have at least two couples in treatment.

Application Process:

To apply for the program, please:

·       Complete the Application Form. Applications are being accepted on a rolling basis and will be accepted until the program is full or one week before the first class, whichever comes first. At that time this link will be removed, so if it is still up we are still accepting applications. To complete the application form and upload required application checklist items, please click here to create an account with Blackbaud.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Blackbaud is the applicant portal you will use to submit your application, accept admission into the program, and pay tuition.

·       Complete the additional checklist items which include:

o   (1) uploading your personal statement. In a page or two, please tell us why you are applying to the program, and describe your previous exposure to psychoanalytic theory, your experience working with individuals and couples to date, what you see as your strengths and growing edges as a therapist, and any previous training in couple therapy.  Please include a statement about how many couples you are likely to be working with during the course of the program. If you have any concern about your ability to get adequate couple referrals to consistently have at least two couples in treatment throughout the program, please let us know that.

o   (2) uploading a copy of your resume/curriculum vitae

Once all required materials are received, you will be contacted to schedule an individual interview with one of the three core faculty members.  If you have not heard from us within two weeks and wish to check on the status of your application, please contact Andrea Hall at ahall@icsw.edu. The admission process will begin immediately and continue until a maximum of 12 applicants have been accepted.  There will be a minimum of eight and maximum of 12 participants in the program.

Tuition:

The tuition is $3,600 and will be due one week prior to the first class. Any tuition refund requests must be submitted to Michael Bauman (mbauman@icsw.edu or (773) 943-6503). Refunds will be issued at a rate of 50% by the 3rd class and 0% any time after.

There is an additional fee of $100 per individual consultation session, payable directly to the participant’s assigned individual consultant. A minimum of 10 individual consultations are required, resulting in a total cost for the program of $4600. The program runs September to May and includes a total of 29 classes, of which CEUs are available for 28.

Scholarships

Some scholarship assistance may be available to accepted students who meet financial eligibility criteria. Priority for scholarships will be given to BIPOC applicants and those from other traditionally underrepresented groups as well as to applicants who work with low income couples and those from marginalized groups. The scholarship application can be requested by reaching out to Program Director Carla Leone at cleone@icsw.edu.

Questions?

Please direct any questions about the application process to Andrea Hall, (ahall@icsw.edu) and questions about the program itself or the eligibility criteria to Dr. Carla Leone (cleone@icsw.edu or 847-308-3660).