Psychotherapy Networker Couples Symposium

If you work with couples, this is a must-attend event.

Couples therapy is some of the most intense and demanding work — filled with heated arguments, painful feelings of grief and betrayal, and silences so heavy they can swallow a room.

And it's harder now than ever because today's cases also require you to navigate:

• Trauma and attachment wounds

• Multiple forms of infidelity — including emotional, sexual, and tech-driven

• Chronic stress and deepening disconnection

• Evolving expectations around sex and monogamy

• Multicultural and blended-family dynamics

• Neurodivergence, addictions, and other complex challenges

The good news is you don't have to do it alone…

That's why we're inviting you to the first-ever online Psychotherapy Networker Couples Symposium — an immersive, 2-day virtual experience where you'll join leading couples therapy developers, teachers, and master clinicians.

Created by the team behind the world-renowned Psychotherapy Networker Symposium, this one-of-a-kind certification training gives you the exact tools, interventions, and frameworks today's top couples therapy experts use to meet the realities of modern couples work head-on.

We guarantee this event will help you deepen your craft, strengthen your confidence, and elevate your impact with every couple you see.

Plus, this program provides all the education you need to become a Certified Couple Therapy Informed Provider (CCTIP) — so you can show your clients that you have the specialized expertise to support their relationship.

New to couples therapy?

This symposium will fast-track your confidence, clarity, and competence.

Already experienced?

You’ll gain the most current strategies, models, and insights for navigating today’s complex relational dynamics.

What to Expect at the Virtual Couples Symposium

Today's couples aren't just facing communication issues — they're navigating a whole new relationship landscape. From evolving ideas about sex and intimacy… to the push–pull between connection and autonomy… to a complete rewriting of commitment in a culture of constant choice.

To be effective, you need the latest, clinically proven tools and guidance to work confidently within this new world of relationships.

That's exactly what you'll find at the Psychotherapy Networker Couples Symposium.

The Sessions You Need for Today's Couples

The Couples Symposium is dedicated to addressing the genuine needs of therapists like yourself. It offers a diverse group of practical sessions led by globally recognized couples therapy experts that can revolutionize your work with couples — all while providing the education you need to become a certified couples therapist!

Sign Up Now!

Skills and Insights for the Issues that Matter Most

• Traumatic Stress

• Intimacy Issues

• Multi-cultural Relationships

• Grief & Grieving

• Neurodivergence

• Relationship Rupture

• Attachment Wounds

• Ethics & Cultural Competency

• Addictions

• Relational Stress

• Role of Therapist and Countertransference Issues

Couples Symposium Schedule at a Glance

All Times Shown in US Central Time

Day 1 | Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Ellyn Bader, PhD

8:30–9:40 AM

Foundations of Couples Therapy Work: Skills for Leading Confident, Growth Oriented Couples Sessions

Ellyn Bader, PhD | Click here for information about Ellyn Bader

Build the clarity, confidence, and developmental insight you need to transform even the most reactive couples sessions.

You'll walk away with the skills to:

• Interrupt reactive blame-defensiveness cycles in real time so you can stabilize sessions and keep both partners engaged

• Match interventions to the couple's emotional capacity and developmental relationship stage

• Stay steady in high-intensity moments, redirect unproductive patterns, and guide couples toward meaningful change

Kirsten Lind Seal, PhD, LMFT

9:50–11:00 AM

Key Ethical Considerations for Doing Couples Work

Kirsten Lind Seal, PhD, LMFT | Click here for information about Kirsten Lind Seal

Master the ethical and countertransference challenges unique to couples therapy — from defining the relationship as the client to navigating power dynamics, secrets, sexual issues, and more.

You'll walk away with the skills to:

• Use clean, consistent rules for consent, neutrality, and secrets

• Handle high-stakes moments with confidence using simple, repeatable clinical moves

• Assess for substance use, IPV risks, and safety concerns to make sound referral or termination decisions

Kory Andreas, LCSW-C

11:10 AM–12:20 PM

Mixed Neurotype Couples: A Neurodiversity Affirming Guide for Therapists

Kory Andreas, LCSW-C | Click here for information about Kory Andreas

Stop missing mixed neurotype dynamics—learn the affirming tools that help these overlooked couples feel seen, understood, and supported. You’ll walk away with the skills to:

• Spot mixed neurotype dynamics fast using targeted questions that reveal communication patterns, processing differences, and hidden relational strengths. 

• Confidently navigate diagnosis conversations, knowing how and when to discuss autistic traits in a way that reduces shame and increases insight. 

• Apply validation based tools to strengthen intimacy, empathy, and connection between differently wired partners.

12:20–12:50 PM — MID-DAY BREAK

Sue Diamond, MA, RCC

12:50–2:00 PM

A Developmental Model Approach to Spotting the Signs, Repairing the Damage, and Rebuilding Healthy Partnership

Sue Diamond, MA, RCC | Click here for information about Sue Diamond

Learn to identify hidden addiction in couples therapy and use the Developmental Model to integrate recovery, repair relational harm, and help partners build a healthier future.

You'll walk away with the skills to:

• Assess hidden addiction dynamics using clear behavioral cues and clinically grounded inquiry techniques

• Intervene with confidence and precision through therapist-led interventions that support accountability and disrupt addictive relational patterns

• Use the Developmental Model to guide recovery by pinpointing developmental "stuck points," strengthening differentiation, and helping partners repair harm

Alexandra Solomon, PhD

2:10–3:20 PM

Breakups, Separation, and Divorce: Helping Couples End Well

Alexandra Solomon, PhD | Click here for information about Alexandra Solomon

Lead couples through breakups, separation, and divorce with confidence — and help partners end with clarity, respect, and care.

You'll walk away with the skills to:

• Address the question, "Should I stay or should I go?" with tools designed to help clients move from stuck to clear

• Navigate "boomerang couples" who cycle between breaking up and reconciling

• Help couples end with clarity, respect, and care so they can move forward without unnecessary conflict or harm

Ellyn Bader, PhD

3:30–4:40 PM

Managing the Crisis of Infidelity: Leading Clients from Raw Pain to Constructive Action

Ellyn Bader, PhD | Click here for information about Ellyn Bader

Cut through the chaos of betrayal and guide couples from crisis to clarity with a structured, emotionally grounded approach to healing after infidelity.

You'll walk away with the skills to:

• Quickly assess and organize the emotional chaos of infidelity — including anger, shame, betrayal, and conflicting narratives — into a clear, therapeutically effective plan

• Use targeted interventions to contain crisis, confront avoidance, regulate escalation, and guide each partner toward more differentiated engagement

• Help couples rebuild safety and connection by addressing underlying developmental stuck points and promoting genuine repair

Day 2 | Wednesday, June 17, 2026

Tammy Nelson, PhD

8:30–9:40 AM

Self of Therapist and Countertransference: Bias, Boundaries, and the Ethics of Therapist Transparency

Tammy Nelson, PhD | Click here for information about Tammy Nelson

Transform your clinical impact by learning to recognize, regulate, and ethically use your emotional, somatic, and relational responses in the therapy room.

You'll walk away with the skills to:

• Identify how your own history, values, and attachment patterns show up in the room

• Use ethical, targeted self-disclosure to deepen alliance and repair ruptures

• Regulate your own emotional reactions to stay grounded, present, and therapeutically effective

William J. Doherty, PhD, LP, LMFT

9:50–11:00 AM

Bad and Good Couples Counseling: What They Don't Teach You in Graduate School

William J. Doherty, PhD, LP, LMFT | Click here for information about William Doherty

Learn the screw-ups therapists make most often in couples therapy (and why), and walk away with practical, immediately usable skills to avoid them — no matter your model or experience level.

You'll walk away with the skills to:

• Apply in-session corrections that immediately steady and strengthen the couple's process

• Avoid subtly taking sides or reinforcing stuck patterns

• Run cleaner, more effective sessions with practical tools for pacing conflict, managing reactivity, redirecting derailments, and repairing your own missteps

Katherine M. Helm, PhD

11:10 AM–12:20 PM

Love, Intimacy, and the African American Couple: Working with Black Couples in Counseling

Katherine M. Helm, PhD | Click here for information about Katherine Helm

Deliver truly effective, culturally responsive couples therapy by uncovering the historical and contemporary forces that uniquely shape African American relationships.

You'll walk away with the skills to:

• Assess for power dynamics, racial stress, gendered expectations, and cultural mistrust

• Integrate culturally grounded, strengths-based interventions

• Use powerful, culturally responsive interventions that build safety, honor lived experience, and help African American couples strengthen connection

12:20–12:50 PM — MID-DAY BREAK

Sara Nasserzadeh, PhD

12:50–2:00 PM

Intercultural Couples Therapy in Action: From Awareness to Practice

Sara Nasserzadeh, PhD | Click here for information about Sara Nasserzadeh

Move beyond cultural awareness into true intercultural practice by confidently addressing race, identity, and power in couples therapy.

You'll walk away with the skills to:

• Map cultural dynamics early using tools like cultural genograms and targeted identity questions

• Interrupt bias and cultural camouflage in real time by tracking subtle shifts in alignment, deference, or distancing

• Adopt an intercultural stance that's active, not neutral — skillfully bringing race, identity, and power into the conversation

Robin Williams Blake, RP

2:10–3:20 PM

Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy: The Map, the Moves and the Moments of Change

Robin Williams Blake, RP | Click here for information about Robin Williams Blake

Experience the power of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFCT) that blends attachment science, master-level interventions, and therapist attunement to move couples from disconnection to secure, lasting bond.

You'll walk away with the skills to:

• Apply the EFCT roadmap to help partners access and share core attachment emotions

• Use the EFT Tango to guide clients from reactive cycles into moments of emotional engagement and bonding

• Leverage therapist attunement as an active intervention, adjusting pacing, presence, and responsiveness to create immediate safety

Elizabeth Earnshaw, MA, LMFT, CGT

3:30–4:40 PM

Helping Time-Starved Couples Center Love: Navigating Stress, Connection & the Transition to Parenthood

Elizabeth Earnshaw, MA, LMFT, CGT | Click here for information about Elizabeth Earnshaw

Discover how to support overwhelmed couples who love each other deeply but are drowning in stress, mental load, and life transitions that leave little room for intimacy or repair.

You'll walk away with the skills to:

• Interrupt hidden stress loops before they escalate into chronic disconnection

• Equip couples with fast, realistic regulation and repair tools they can use even when life is chaotic

• Address transition-based vulnerabilities head-on — from postpartum wounds to shifting roles