DECEMBER Announcement

**Online Training**

Couple Therapy at the Expanding Boundaries of Coupledom

Psychodynamic Couple & Family Institute of New England 

December 5, 2020

When One is Not Enough: Working With Couples Exploring Consensual Nonmonogamy

Magdalena Fosse, Psy.D., MA, MS,
AASECT Certified Sex Therapist

9:00 am EST – 12:00 pm EST, Saturday, December 5, 2020

Polyamory and, more broadly, consensual nonmonogamy are becoming a relational choice for an increasing number of couples. The dynamics of excitement and rejection are at the core of many of these relationships. In this on-line workshop, Dr. Magdalena Fosse will draw from her extensive experience working with consensually nonmonogamous individuals and couples, elaborating on selected theories and providing rich case material. The theories presented will include monogamy and polyamory as strategic identities, the self-expansion model, and the role of defenses in polyamorous dynamics. With these theoretical models in mind, Magdalena Fosse, Psy.D. will discuss the impact on monogamous relationships of opening up the relationship and will examine the experience of becoming polyamorous. She will describe pleasures and pressures associated with the exploration of polyamory.

Magdalena Fosse’s approach combines relative neutrality and an open-minded embrace of nontraditional lifestyle choices. She will demonstrate how to create a flexible and safe therapeutic environment in which relational fluidity can be explored. As part of this program, Jenn Bortle, Ph.D., a specialist in working with LGBTQ and nonmonogamous couples, will present to Dr. Fosse her work with a couple exploring themes relevant to Dr. Fosse’s presentation.

Can Couples Change Gender? Supporting Couples Exploring Gender Identity

Jean Malpas, LMHC, LMFT

1:00 pm EST – 4:30 pm EST, Saturday, December 5, 2020

This on-line, interactive workshop will be taught by Jean Malpas, LMHC, LMFT, a leader in the intersecting fields of gender, sexuality, couple and family therapy. It will examine the role of the couple therapist when working with couples exploring gender identity and transition and the shifting relational terrain this entails.

Departing from the historically cis-normative practices of couple and family therapy, Mr. Malpas will identify gender-affirming stances and practices that couple therapists, specifically cisgender-identified ones, can adopt to facilitate the exploration of these issues with humility, warmth and skill. He will use clinical case presentations to demonstrate the use of systemic, social justice and multigenerational frameworks when working with racially and gender-diverse couples.

Register here