Hidden Figures: Helping couples discover underlying patterns in their communication.

The framework for Gestalt couples therapy, largely developed at the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland, centers around being able to see the couple’s  communication patterns as they occur in the session.  These can be obscured by the versions of events and blaming that the couple comes in with.  In this workshop, we will focus on common patterns, how to spot them, and getting the couple interested in them rather than blaming their partner for relationship problems.

Learning Objectives:
Participants completing this workshop will be able to:

• Identify common communication patterns in couples that keep them stuck;

• Avoid getting caught up in the merits of clients’ arguments;

• Redirect their own attention to the couple’s process;

• Offer clients alternatives to unhelpful patterns;

• Support clients to navigate past their resistances to change; and

• Recognize ways to stay centered when working with high conflict couples.