Couples Therapy Intensive Course

Ellyn Bader, PhD, is in private practice and is co-director of The Couples Institute in Menlo Park, California. Over the past 25 years she has conducted professional training programs in couples therapy and has trained therapists throughout the United States as well as Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia. She is a past president of the International Transactional Analysis Association and a recipient of the Clark Vincent Award for an outstanding literary contribution to the field of marital therapy from the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. Dr. Bader is frequently invited to speak at national and international conferences. She and her husband, Peter Pearson, PhD, coauthored the books, In Quest of the Mythical Mate: A Developmental Approach to Diagnosis and Treatment in Couples Therapy (Brunner/Mazel) and Tell Me No Lies: How to Face the Truth and Build an Honest Marriage (St. Martin’s Press).

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Ellyn Bader is the founder and CEO of The Couples Institute, the co-creator of The Developmental Model of Couples Therapy, and receives compensation as a consultant. She receives royalties as a published author. Ellyn Bader receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Ellyn Bader is a member of the American Psychological Association, the International Transactional Analysis Association, and the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists.

Esther Perel has devoted her entire professional life to helping people build thriving relationships. She believes that the quality of our relationships determines the quality of our lives. Since arriving as a graduate student in the United States, Perel has examined the concept from myriad angles: the nature of cultural and religious identity, the negotiation between tradition and modernity, the ebb and flow between individualism and collectivism. She observed interracial and interreligious couples; the cultural forces that affect gender roles; practices of childrearing; and ultimately, the tensions, obstacles, and anxieties that arise when our quest for love and security conflicts with our pursuit of adventure and freedom.

Today, Perel is best known as the host of the wildly popular podcast Where Should We Begin? This fascinating, inside look at Perel’s sessions with real-life couples has unlocked a deep-seated cultural interest in hashing these issues out openly in order to live better lives. However, it has also unlocked within Perel the understanding that her years of study and practice go beyond the romantic, and that the lessons she has learned can be applied to relationships of all kinds, in all environments. The same principles used to create an open, balanced relationship with one’s significant other can be applied to our co-workers, our bosses, and our world at large.

New York Times best-selling author Esther Perel is recognized as one of today’s most insightful and original voices on modern relationships. As a psychotherapist, Perel has helmed a therapy practice in New York City for more than 35 years. In parallel, she serves as an organizational consultant for Fortune 500 companies around the world. Fluent in nine languages, Perel’s celebrated TED talks have garnered more than 40 million views and her best-selling books have been translated into 31 languages. Perel is an executive producer and host of the award-winning podcast Where Should We Begin? Her new podcast How’s Work? focuses on workplace dynamics and can be enjoyed on Spotify or other podcast providers.

 

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Esther Perel maintains a private practice. She has employment relationships with Columbia University, Ackerman Institute for the Family, Norwegian Institute for the Expressive Arts Therapies, The Minuchin center for the Family, and 92nd Street Y. She receives royalties as a published author. Esther Perel receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Esther Perel is a member of the American Family Therapy Academy, The Society for Sex Therapy and Research, and the American Association for Sex Educators, Counsellors and Therapists.

Tammy Nelson, PhD, is a licensed psychotherapist in private practice, a relationship and international speaker, an author, a faculty member and teacher with a Doctorate in Philosophy in Clinical Sexology. She is a board-certified sexologist, a diplomate of the American Board of Sexologists, a licensed professional counselor, an AASECT Certified Sex Therapist, a registered art therapist, a licensed alcohol and drug counselor, a Certified Imago Relationship Therapist and an Advanced Imago Clinician as well as an ISTI Certified Sex and Couples Therapist.

Dr. Tammy is the author of six books, including Open Monogamy: A Guide to Co-Creating Your Ideal Relationship Agreement (2021), Integrative Sex & Couples Therapy: A Therapist’s Guide to New and Innovative Approaches (2020), When You’re the One Who Cheats: Ten Things You Need to Know (2019), The New Monogamy: Redefining Your Relationship After Infidelity (2013), Getting the Sex You Want: Shed Your Inhibitions and Reach New Heights of Passion Together (2008), and What’s Eating You? A Workbook for Anorexia and Bulimia (2004). She is also the creator of Date Night Card Deck (2023), a TEDx speaker, host of the podcast The Trouble with Sex, and founder and executive director of the Integrative Sex Therapy Institute.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Tammy Nelson maintains a private practice and is executive director and primary faculty at Integrated Sex Therapy Training Institute (ISTI) and has employment relationships with Daybreak University and the California Institute of Integral Studies. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording, and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc., and she additionally receives royalties from New Harbinger and Sounds True. She is a paid consultant for Evergreen Certifications. Dr. Nelson has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Tammy Nelson serves on the board of advisors for the World Association of Sex Coaches. She is a member of the American Art Therapy Association, American Association of Sex Educators, Sex Counselors, and Sex Therapists (AASECT), American Comprehensive Energy Psychology Association (ACEP), American Counseling Association, American Family Therapy Academy, American Family Therapy Association (AFTA), American Psychological Association (APA), Connecticut Counselors, Imago Relationships International Association of Professional and Certified Therapists, International Board of Sexologists, International Institute for Sexuality and Human Development, Nonfiction Authors Association, Society Scientific Study Sexuality (SSSS), and the Society for Sex Therapy and Research (SSTAR).

Terry Real, LICSW, is an Internationally Recognized Family Therapist, Speaker and Author. Terry founded the Relational Life Institute (RLI), offering workshops for couples, individuals and parents around the country along with a professional training program for clinicians wanting to learn his RLT (Relational Life Therapy) methodology.

A family therapist and teacher for more than 25 years, Terry is the best-selling author of I Don’t Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression (Scribner), the straight-talking How Can I Get Through to You? Reconnecting Men and Women (Scribner), and most recently The New Rules of Marriage: What You Need to Make Love Work (Random House). Terry knows how to lead couples on a step-by-step journey to greater intimacy — and greater personal fulfillment.

A senior faculty member of the Family Institute of Cambridge in Massachusetts and a retired Clinical Fellow of the Meadows Institute in Arizona, Terry has worked with thousands of individuals, couples, and fellow therapists. Through his books, the Institute, and workshops around the country, Terry helps women and men, parents and non-parents, to help them create the connection they desire in their relationships.

Terry’s work, with its rigorous commonsense approach, speaks to both men and women. His ideas on men’s issues and on couple’s therapy have been celebrated in venues from the “Good Morning America”, “The Today Show” and “20/20”, to “Oprah” and The New York Times.

A proponent of “full-throttle marriage,” as described in The New Rules of Marriage, Terry has been called “the most innovative voice in thinking about and treating men and their relationships in the world today.”

The New York Times Book Review described Terry’s work as: “A critical contribution to feminist psychology (that) brings the Men’s movement a significant step forward.” Robert Bly hailed it as “moving onto new ground in both story and song. Exhilarating in its honesty.”

Terry’s Relational Life Institute grew out of his extensive and empathic experience. He teaches people how to make their relationships work by providing products and services designed to teach the principles of Relational Life™, so that everyone can enjoy full respect living and craft a healthy life legacy.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Terrence Real is the founder of Relational Life Institute, maintains a private practice and has an employment relationship with Family Institute of Cambridge. He receives royalties as a published author. Terry Real receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Terrence Real has no relevant non-financial disclosures.

Dr. Alexandra H. Solomon is internationally recognized as one of today’s most trusted voices in the world of relationships, and her framework for Relational Self-Awareness has reached millions of people around the globe. A couple therapist, speaker, author, and professor, Dr. Alexandra is passionate about translating cutting-edge research and clinical wisdom into practical tools people can use to bring awareness, curiosity and authenticity to their relationships.

She is a clinician educator and a frequent contributor to academic journals, and she translates her academic and therapeutic experience to the public through her popular Instagram page, which has garnered a quarter of million followers. She is an adjunct professor in the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University, and she is the face of MasterClass in Practice. She is a licensed clinical psychologist, who works with individuals and couples in private practice.

Her hit podcast, Reimagining Love, reaches thousands of listeners across the globe each week and features deep dives into complex relationship dynamics as well as conversations with high-profile guests from the worlds of therapy, academia, and pop culture. She is the award-winning author of three bestselling books: Love Every Day, Loving Bravely and Taking Sexy Back. Her work has been covered by outlets including NPR, Today, New York Times, Scientific American, and the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Alexandra Solomon is the owner and founder of The Institute for Relational Self-Awareness and has an employment relationship with MasterClass and Northwestern University. She receives royalties as a published author and is the podcast host of Reimaging Love. She is the founding expert for Mine'd app. Dr. Solomon receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Alexandra Solomon is an ad hoc for several peer review journals, for a complete list contact PESI, Inc. Dr. Solomon is a member of the American Psychological Association (APA), and the American Association for Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT).

Shadeen Francis, LMFT, CST is a therapist, professor, and author specializing in sex therapy and social justice. She trains organizations and is a guest expert for various media outlets, including CBC, NBC, and Fox.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Shadeen Francis has an employment relationship with Modern Sex Therapy Institutes, The People's Therapy Group, and Black Healing Collective. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Shadeen Francis is a member of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists, Women of Color Sexual Health Network, the Association of Black Sexologists and Clinicians, the Family Therapist Education & Advocacy Movement, and the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. She is an ad-hoc reviewer with Routledge Press.

Dr. Christiana Ibilola Awosan is an assistant professor at Iona College in New Rochelle, New York, in the marriage and family therapy program and an associate faculty with the Eikenberg Academy of Social Justice. She’s also the founder and director of Ibisanmi Relational Health. Dr. Awosan conducts national and international trainings and seminars on issues of related to understanding sociocultural trauma such as racial trauma on the mental, emotional, and relational lives of people of color. Her research focuses on diversity, inclusion, and social justice. She has published several book chapters and articles in peer-reviewed journals including Therapy with heterosexual black couples through a racial lens (2019, New York, NY: The Guilford Press) and Emotionally Focused Therapy: A culturally sensitive approach for African American Heterosexual Couples (2019, Journal of Family Psychotherapy).

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Christiana Awosan maintains a private practice and has an employment relationship with Iona University. She receives a grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Christiana Awosan receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Christiana Awosan is a member of the International Black Doctoral Network, the International Family Therapy Association, and the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

 

Paul T. Guillory, PhD, is associate professor in the psychology department at the University of California, Berkeley, USA. He is a certified supervisor and therapist of emotionally focused therapy. He is also a former chairperson of the Northern California Community of Emotionally Focused Therapy.
 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Paul Guillory maintains a private practice and has an employment relationship with the University of California, Berkley. He receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Paul Guillory is a member of the American Psychological Association, the California Psychological Association, the International Center for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy, and the Northern California Community in Emotionally Focused Therapy.

Ari Tuckman, PsyD, MBA, is a psychologist, international presenter, author, and ADHD expert. He is the author of five books on adult ADHD – one for clinicians and four for the general public. He has also written several book chapters and is a frequent author for ADHD-related publications, including ADDitude Magazine and Attention Magazine.

He is a popular and dynamic presenter who routinely earns excellent reviews for his ability to make complex concepts understandable and useful. He has given more than 850 presentations and podcast interviews for professionals and members of the public, across America and Sweden, Turkey, Greece, Mexico, England, Spain, Denmark, Canada, and Iceland.

He has appeared on CNN, National Public Radio, and XM Radio and has been quoted in The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, USnews.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Men’s Health and many other media outlets. He is a former board member and current conference committee chair for CHADD and is the 2023 recipient of their Hall of Fame award for his significant contributions to the field.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Ari Tuckman maintains a private practice. He receives royalties as a published author. Ari Tuckman receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Ari Tuckman is the National Conference Committee co-chair for CHAAD.

Joe Kort, PhD, LMSW, is a board-certified sexologist and the founder of The Center for Relationship and Sexual Health, and runs a private practice in Royal Oak, Michigan. Dr. Kort, a therapist, coach and author, has been practicing psychotherapy for more than 38 years and has spoken internationally on the subject of gay counseling. He specializes in sex therapy, LGBTQ affirmative psychotherapy, sexually compulsive behaviors, and IMAGO relationship therapy designed for couples to enhance their relationship through improved communication. Dr. Kort is a blogger for the Huffington Post and Psychology Today on issues of sexuality. He has been a guest on the various television programs on mixed orientation marriages and "sexual addiction". Dr. Kort is the author of several books, including, LGBTQ Clients in Therapy, 10 Smart Things Gay Men Can Do to Find Real Love, and Is My Husband Gay, Straight or Bisexual.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Joe Kort maintains a private practice and has an employment relationship with Modern Sex Therapy Institutes. He receives royalties as a published author, and he receives a speaking honorarium and book and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Joe Kort is a member of the National Association of Social Workers, the Institute for Imago Relationship Therapy, and the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists.

With 25 + years of professional experience and advanced level certifications, Wendy Behary is the founder and director of The Cognitive Therapy Center of New Jersey and the Schema Therapy Institutes of NJ-NYC-DC. She has been treating clients, training professionals and supervising psychotherapists for more than 20 years. Wendy was on the faculty of the Cognitive Therapy Center and Schema Therapy Institute of New York (until the Institutes merged in 2012), where she trained and worked with Dr. Jeffrey Young since 1989.

She is a founding fellow and consulting supervisor for The Academy of Cognitive Therapy (Aaron T. Beck’s Institute). Wendy served as the President of the Executive Board of the International Society of Schema Therapy (ISST) from 2010-2014 and served as the Training and Certification Coordinator for the ISST Executive Board from 2008-2010. She is currently the chair of the Schema Therapy Development Programs Sub-Committee for the ISST.

Wendy Behary has co-authored several chapters and articles on Schema Therapy and Cognitive Therapy. She is the author of an international bestselling book, Disarming the Narcissist: Surviving and Thriving with the Self-Absorbed, translated in 15 languages. The Third Edition was released on October 1, 2021. Wendy has a specialty in treating narcissists and the people who live with and deal with them. As an author and an expert on the subject of narcissism, she is a contributing chapter author of several chapters on schema therapy for narcissism for professional readers. She lectures both nationally and internationally to professional and general audiences on schema therapy, narcissism, interpersonal relationships, anger, and dealing with difficult people. She receives consistent high praise for her clear and articulate teaching style and her ability to bring the therapy to life through dramatic demonstrations of client interactions in the treatment room.

Her work industry business speaking engagements focus on interpersonal conflict resolution. Her private practice is primarily devoted to treating narcissists, partners/people dealing with them, and couples experiencing relationship problems.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Wendy Behary is the co-founder of The Cognitive Therapy Center of New Jersey and The Schema Therapy Institutes of NJ-NYC-DC. She receives royalties as a published author. Wendy Behary receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Wendy Behary is the board president of The Jeff Young Schema Therapy Association. She is a member of the NJ Association of Cognitive-Behavior Therapists and the International Association of Cognitive-Behavior Therapists. She is a founding fellow of The Academy of Cognitive Therapy.

Dr. Tracy Dalgleish is a clinical psychologist, couples therapist, and sought-after relationship expert. For over fifteen years, she has provided direct clinical services to couples and has dedicated her time to researching, writing, and speaking about relationships. Her goal is to make the skills and tools she teaches her clients more accessible so they can build healthier relationships with themselves and with others. She is the founder of Be Connected Digital and the owner of a mental health clinic, Integrated Wellness. She lives in Ottawa, Canada, with her husband and two children.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Tracy Dalgleish the co-founder and therapist at Integrated Wellness. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Tracy Dalgleish is a member of the College of Psychologists of Ontario and the Ontario Psychological Association.