How Trauma Impacts Couple Relationships

The individual trauma histories of adults in a romantic relationship impact the conceptualization and treatment of the couple. Traditional couple therapy techniques may be far less effective with traumatized individuals than with non-traumatized individuals. This course guides therapists to identify trauma-based patterns of responding in intimate relationships, and to utilize specific exercises that address trauma responses.

Total running time 124 minutes. 2 Hours CE. Recorded video format (non-interactive)

Content Advisory: To protect client confidentiality, case examples include fictionalized elements.

ESTIMATED COURSE LENGTH: 2.07 hours 

CE CREDITS: 2.00 continuing education/contact hours for social workers, psychologists, counselors, and marriage and family therapists

TARGET AUDIENCE: Mental Health Practitioners

LEVEL OF INSTRUCTION: Intermediate

PREREQUISITE(S): None

INSTRUCTIONAL METHOD: Recorded video format (non-interactive)

ACCESSIBILITY ACCOMMODATIONS: Closed captioning of audio components. In order to request further accessibility accommodations, please email support@psychhub.com.

COMPLETION REQUIREMENTS: To obtain your CE certificate, learners must complete a pre-test (not scored), progress through all course segments, complete a participant evaluation, and obtain a score of 80% or higher on a post-test. Learners are expected to complete the quiz within 3 attempts. If unable to do so, the learner will need to re-review the course segments.

FINANCIAL/COMMERCIAL SUPPORT STATEMENT: This course has no commercial support.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST:  This course has no potential conflict of interest or outside commercial support. Psych Hub's conflict of interest statement is found in the footer of the training center.

GRIEVANCE AND REFUND POLICIES: Grievance and refund policies are found in the footer of the training center.

PARTICIPATION COSTS:  The cost to participate in this CE activity is included in the subscription registration fee.

COURSE CREATION DATE: 4/12/2022

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Identify at least three trauma-based challenges in couple treatment.
• Distinguish between traumatic and non-traumatic presentations in couple therapy.
• Apply three corrective exercises to address trauma-based responding in couple relationships.

1. Presenting problems
   1. “Normal”/non-traumatized couples
   2. Traumatized couples
2. How does the dysregulation of individual systems express itself in the romantic relationship?
   1. Cognitive
   2. Skills
   3. Significant affect dysregulation during sessions and “in the wild”
   4. Significant affect dysregulation
   5. Cognitive distortions
3. Minimal Trauma Treatment plan
4. Moderate to Severe Trauma Treatment plan
   1. Relationships
   2. Parental resilience
   3. Social connectedness
   4. Social and emotional competence
5. Orientation
   1. Orienting to the environment
   2. Orientating to partner
   3. Orienting to pleasure
   4. Orienting to positive relationship experiences
6. Time-Out procedure
   1. Time-out rules
   2. Time-out formula
7. Time-Out procedure
   Inquiry