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These videos are available until
March 22 at 11:59pm Pacific
Cracking The Code: Why Relationships Fail 6 Transformative Videos That Will Change How You Think About Relationships
40+ Years of Clinical Expertise
1000s Therapists Trained
5 Core Principles for Lasting Change
Discover the underlying reasons for relationship distress and see exactly how to intervene.
Your Journey Starts Here
1
Why Learn The Developmental Model?
Discover why this model enables you to work with each couple who walks through your door—and how it transforms “stuck” relationships into powerful opportunities for growth.
Key Insight: You didn't become a therapist to sit with people fighting and going nowhere. Learn how to support growth instead of managing defenses.
2
The 5 Principles That Create Lasting Change
There's a hidden map to every relationship: predictable stages that couples must navigate or risk being trapped forever in the first chapter of their story. Many therapists never learn to see it. Too many couples never escape. But you're about to discover where they're actually stuck — and the exact moments to intervene.
Key Insight: Most clinical couples are stuck in the first stage of development. These 5 principles show you how to lead them out of symbiosis and into differentiation.
3
Differentiation in Couples Therapy
Watch Ellyn reveal why differentiation — not attachment — is the foundation for enduring partnership, and how you can facilitate it even with your most anxious, avoidant clients.
Key Insight: Partners shut down and sacrifice themselves out of fear. Learn how to help them overcome that vulnerability so passion and intimacy can thrive.
4
Live Clinical Demonstration, Transforming Severe Trauma
Watch Ellyn supervise a real case with severe childhood trauma – you'll see exactly how to provide “developmental assists” that enable traumatized partners to take their next step forward.
Key Insight: With early trauma, you're not healing who they were before — you're breathing life into who they're becoming. See how to structure sessions, track progress, and avoid getting too far ahead.
Here's what other therapists are saying about
the developmental model training program
What Therapists Are Saying
Join thousands of clinicians who've transformed their practice
When Janae first started training, her work was primarily with individuals. Now she is able to work at a new level with individuals and see more couples, too. She’s learned a whole new language she can use with all of her clients.
Janae Munday, LCSW
Phoenix, AZ
Phoenix, AZ
Individuals, Tools/Framework, Clinical Improvement
Glen is an experienced therapist and the President of Well Marriage Center in Fairfax. When Glen learned about the Developmental Model he signed up for the training program and soon realized that he wanted all of his associates to take the training. As a result Glen has noticed improvements for clients, and also richer exchanges in staff meetings.
Glen Denlinger, LCSW, BCD President & Clinical Director of Well Marriage Center. Fairfax, VA
New Therapists, Experienced Therapists, Training, Associates, Confidence
Before the Developmental Model training, Nicole used to get stuck with hostile-angry and passive couples, often wondering, “What the hell just happened?”Now she feels clarity. With the framework that’s been provided, she knows what is happening and what to do.
Nicole Van Ness, PsyD, LMFT-S Grapevine, TX
Hostile-Angry, Passivity, Clinical Improvement
Tammy joined training as a relatively new therapist and it has made a big difference in her personal life as well as her professional life. She values the community, has increased her confidence in working with couples, and is now having to decide what to do with more clients than she can see.
Tammy Van Hinte, MA, RCC Victoria BC
Community, Personal, New Therapist, Full Practice
Lori is a seasoned therapist who has been using the Developmental Model for several years. With a successful practice and a long waiting list, Lori felt bad turning away so many couples who called in crisis.It was in the Couples Institute mentoring program that she became inspired to think about how she could specialize in couples intensives, and now that’s a major part of her practice.
Lori Weisman, MA, LMHC Bellevue, WA
Couples Intensives, Tools/Framework, Challenging Couples
Jeremiah had an EFT background in working with couples, and now he’s moving out of that. The Developmental Model training has made a big difference in how he works with couples, even though he’s been in the training for a year. He’s seeing big changes that he’s able to make using the Developmental Model. Some of his clients have expressed appreciation for his work, and getting that feedback has been thrilling.
Jeremiah Gibson, LMFT, CST Quincy, MA
EFT Model, Other Models, Clinical Improvement
Watch More of What the Developmental Program Includes
MORE VIDEO TESTIMONIALS
Alexa was very grateful she took the training and learned the material when she did, but it wasn’t until she started working with it that something shifted inside and she really saw what differentiation was, how it functioned, and how it strengthened relationships. She’s had especially complex cases during the pandemic, and she couldn’t have done the work as well without the training. “I am forever grateful for what you and Pete put into this.”
Alexa Elkington, MFT
Las Vegas, NV
Las Vegas, NV
Remote Work, Complicated Cases, Clinical Improvement
Tom says the Developmental Model translates well for working with queer couples because it’s really about how to be an individual inside a relationship, whatever the relationship structure looks like. And he especially appreciates the supportive community.
Tom Bruett, MS, LMFT Denver, CO
Diversity, Community, Clinical Improvement
Not only was Nancy hooked from day one on the training and lessons, she also appreciates how Ellyn respects other models of couples therapy and how they can be woven into the Developmental Model.
Nancy St John
Couples Counsellor
Ireland
Couples Counsellor
Ireland
Other Models, Community,
Clinical Improvement
Clinical Improvement
Martha used to become confused in sessions because sexual issues are so complex and difficult for clients to discuss, but now she can hold the focus on one thing at a time and really make a difference for them.
Martha Kauppi, LMFT, ACST Madison, WI
Challenging Couples, Community, Clinical Improvement
Nancy and Lori recount many ways they’ve grown personally and how their relationships have improved since being part of the training. Lori says, “It’s a model that helps us do our own personal work.” Nancy agrees, “It’s profoundly life-changing and enhancing on a relationship level.” And she adds, “It’s the most positive environment you can be in.”
Nancy St. John, MIACP,
Couples Counsellor, Ireland
Couples Counsellor, Ireland
Personal Growth, Community, Clinical Improvement
Sue was an individual therapist. But after she got the tools she needed and learned how to be an effective leader, she now specializes in working with couples – and really tough couples!
Sue Diamond, MA, RCC Vancouver, BC
Confidence, New to Couples, Individuals, Tools/Framework, Challenging Couples
What you've seen in these videos is just the beginning. The complete Developmental Model Training Program gives you everything you need to become the therapist your couples are desperately hoping to find.
- Learn the Initiator-Inquirer process that transforms communication
- Learn to diagnose developmental arrests and provide precise assists
- Build your confidence working with the toughest cases: trauma, infidelity, addiction, desire discrepancy
- Join a supportive community of growth-focused clinicians
- Get direct supervision and feedback on your actual cases
- Access comprehensive handouts, questionnaires, and psychoeducational materials
- Grow your practice and keep clients (not just get them in the door)
Join The Developmental Model Training 
Enrollment Closes March 22
The next cohort starts soon. Spaces are limited to ensure personalized attention and a rich learning community.