Couples Therapy Training

Please Note:

Attendance at all four days is required to learn the basics of couples counselling.

The online training will be hosted on zoom and recorded so it will be available for watching afterwards on my eLearning platform.

The in person training will be held in the Maldron Hotel, South Mall, Cork City.

The cost of the training is €600. To book a place, a non-refundable deposit of €100 is required, followed by the remaining balance four weeks prior to the start of the course. Please email mail@karenmurphy.ie for payment details.

Cancellation terms: A €100 non-refundable deposit is required to reserve a place. The balance is payable four weeks before the course start date. Once paid this balance is also non-refundable.

Information on Training

By the end of this training you will be confident to start working with couples in your practice. This training will guide you through the theories of working with couples and the practicalities of working in relationship therapy. It will support you in starting with couples with techniques to guide you. And following from this will provide a strong experiential focus from watching couples therapy and role playing couples therapy to help foster the curiosity and creativity needed for working with couples who are experiencing deep and long term issues. My approach is integrative drawing on the developmental model, Gestalt relational approaches (including the Resnicks), family therapy techniques, Esther Perel, Terry Real and more. 


What it will involve will be full two weekends of training (or four Saturdays online), a deep dive in working with couples. After than I will be providing ongoing monthly training and support to guide you through your early stages of couples work. I will be also providing ongoing group and individual supervision. 
The group will be small (15 max) so the training will be very intense and personalised. 


I am in the process of developing a community of passionate couples therapists to ensure that clients are getting relational, knowledgeable and professional therapists to guide them towards more positive relationships. 

This training is suitable for therapists who feel that they want to work with couples but are unsure where to start. It is for you if you want to have a comprehensive training and a mentoring space which will support you through your first months of couples work. You will need to be conscientious, passionate and willing to do a lot of reading and watching of training videos. Couples work is both deeply challenging and deeply rewarding. You will need to be a qualified psychotherapist and psychologist to attend this training.

If this is something that may be of interest to you please email me at mail@karenmurphy.ie.  

Schedule of Training

 Day One
Introductions
Philosophy and theory of couples  therapy
Content v Process in Couples work
The therapist as translator
Importance of relationship, respect and curiosity
Differentiation in relationships
Common presentations in couples therapy
Role play of first session
Videos of couples sessions
Ethical considerations in couples work
Q&A
Day Two
Reflection of day one
Communication Skills
Role Play and discussion of same
Assessment tools
How to conduct a first session with a couple in detail
Video of couples work and discussion of this
Steps of working with a couple
Esther Perel supervision video
Day Three
Check in
Contracting with the couple
Assessing if the couple is ready for couples therapy
Family of origin integration
Role Play
What to do in individual sessions
Online sessions
After the first session
What do you say when…..
Day Four
Reflection on day 3
Revisiting how to conduct a first session
Homework for the couple
Video and analysis of couples therapy
Role Play and feedback
Detailed Q&A
Recommended Reading
Next steps

About Me

I graduated in 2013 with a BA (Hons) in Counselling and Psychotherapy from Cork Institute of Technology (now MTU). I have established a successful full time private practice over the last nine years in Cork City. I developed an interest and passion for couples work which is now a large percentage of my practice. I have done extensive training and reading in relationships and couples therapy. This includes training with Bob and Rita Resnick, Family Constellations training and psychosexual training. My main couples training has been with Ellyn Bader and Peter Pearson’s Developmental model. I have over 200 hours of dedicated and certified relationship and couples training. I am deeply passionate about couples work and the significant improvement it can make to clients and their families. I participate in two peer supervision groups and have also facilitated a peer supervision group focused on couples work in Cork. I have run successful workshops on integrating couples therapy into your practice. I also have been interviewed by a journalist in the Irish Examiner about intimacy after having children. The article is here: https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/advice/arid-41067905.html