Course Fee: $459 (Canadian currency)
This practical, informative and stimulating course will introduce the student to key counselling issues facing couples today. It will also help you better understand the counselling process, will introduce and teach essential counselling skills, and will help you to develop a relationship with clients that is helpful, supportive and leads to lasting change.
Specifically, this course will address the following : Tools, techniques and skills associated with counselling couples; an introduction to emotion-focused therapy; common relationship issues; understanding sex and intimacy; counselling couples who’ve experienced an affair, or are considering separation and divorce. The college teaches and uses the skills associated with Egan’s The Skilled Helper Model.
There is no prior knowledge or experience required to embark on this rewarding certificate course. You are free to commence at a time that suits your schedule – and then continue at your pace for a period of six months. Full tutor support is provided for this course.
SYLLABUS
Module 1: Introduction to Couple Counselling
Topics Studied
• Understanding attachment theory
• Attachment styles in intimate relationships
• Exploring your beliefs about, and attitudes towards, attachment relationships
• The basic need to feel loved and valued
• The five love languages
• Self-awareness questionnaire
• The therapeutic relationship
• Essential couple counselling skills
Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives
Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:
• Describe the three main attachment styles.
• Apply Bowlby’s work on attachment bonds to intimate adult relationships.
• List essential couple counselling skills.
Module 2: Introducing Emotion-Focused Therapy
Topics Studied
• Why connecting with our partner matters
• Introducing the demon dialogues
• Prioritizing emotional connection, responsiveness and intimacy
• The key components of EFT: accessibility, responsiveness and engagement
• Exploring your attachment to your partner
• Abuse in relationships
• Escaping a violent relationship: Safety planning
• Focussing on sexual assault
Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives
Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:
• Discuss the importance of prioritizing emotional connection, responsiveness and intimacy.
• Summarize the key components of Emotion-Focused Therapy.
• Outline the importance of safety planning when escaping from a violent relationship.
Module 3: The 7 Conversations of Emotion-Focused Therapy
Topics Studied
• Conversation 1: Recognizing the demon dialogues
• Conversation 2: Finding the raw spots
• Conversation 3: Revisiting a rocky moment
• Conversation 4: Hold me tight – Engaging and connecting
• Conversation 5: Forgiving injuries
• Conversation 6: Bonding through sex and touch
• Conversation 7: Keeping your love alive
Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives
Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:
• Explain what is meant by ‘demon dialogues’ in Emotion-Focused therapy.
• Outline the steps that can lead to forgiveness of injuries in intimate relationships.
• Propose ways of keeping our love alive.
Module 4: Sex and Intimacy
Topics Studied
• The key components of fulfilling sex
• Expectations, assumptions and beliefs about sex
• How to develop a more rewarding love life
• Further insights on the role of thoughts and feelings
• What if our desires are out of synch?
Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives
Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:
• Describe the key components of fulfilling sex.
• Outline the role that expectations, assumptions and beliefs play in our intimate relationships.
• Suggest how couples can develop a more rewarding sex life.
Module 5: Common Relationship Issues
Topics Studied
• The power of expectation
• Money
• Time and the work-life balance
• Relationships with the extended family
• Challenges with being in a blended family
• Gottman and problem-solving approaches in intimate relationships
• Developing conflict resolution skills
Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives
Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:
• Discuss the power of expectation
• Apply Gottman’s problem-solving approaches to dealing with problems in intimate relationships.
• Predict some challenges that may confront blended families.
Module 6: Affairs, Break-Ups and Divorce
Topics Studied
• Pornography: Does it matter?
• What is cybersex
• Emotional affairs
• Affairs under the microscope
• How to recover from an affair
• A parting of the ways
• Guidelines for dealing with a major break up
Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives
Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:
• Discuss issues related to pornography and cybersex.
• Explain what is meant by an emotional affair.
• Relate what’s involved in recovering from a break up.
Suggested textbook for the course (to be purchased by the student)
Johnson, S.M. (2013). Love sense: The revolutionary new science of romantic relationships. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company.