5 Strategies for Treating Highly Volatile Couples

All couples engage in some conflict when they’re in therapy. But some can’t seem to manage themselves for even a few minutes without exploding into rage, resentment, blame – or dissolving in tears. Why Volatile Couples Present Unique Challenges in Therapy If you’re treating a volatile couple, their repetitive, heated responses to your questions lead […]
Betrayal Trauma and Infidelity: What Therapists Need to Know

When couples come in after an affair is revealed, the presenting issue is often labeled simply: infidelity. But what sits underneath that word is much more complex – and much more painful. It’s not just about sex. It’s not only about deception. It’s about a unilateral decision to blow up what was previously a mutual […]
Infidelity, Political Tension & Real Therapy Moments: Part 2 of Conference Highlights from the Psychotherapy Networker Symposium

Once again, I am on a plane with some time to write. I’m glad to complete part two of the Networker Conference highlights for you. I’ll start with the workshop I presented on Infidelity, then summarize a keynote panel on Therapy in a Polarized World, and also two clinical workshops demonstrating therapy unfold in real […]
Challenging Communication with your Conflict Avoidant Couples

I recently sat in my office listening to a couple named Bill and Sally describe twenty years of conflict avoidance and intimacy avoidance. Their communication was packed with vague unspecified references and overflowing with examples of passivity. I thought, “Some couples work so very hard to avoid any intensity. Will Bill and Sally allow me […]