Next Training:  May 16-20, 2012 - Geneva, Illinois,

Spend five days learning the Pragmatic/Experiential Method, a step-by-step approach that translates advances in neurobiology and relationship science into practical methods for improving relationships.  Through viewing and discussing videos of Dr. Atkinson's therapy sessions, reviewing critical steps involved in specific interventions, and engaging in skill-building simulations, you'll learn how to help clients 1) realize that they have the power to transform their relationships regardless of their partners' current levels of motivation, 2) develop the core set of habits that have been scientifically proven to increase "partner-responsiveness," 3) learn how to regulate internal states that interfere with the ability to implement these habits, and 4) become motivated to engage in practices that recondition automatic internal reactions and enable the formation of new habits.  Whether you do couples therapy or individual relationship counseling or coaching, you'll leave this training with more confidence and ability to help people improve their relationships. The Couples Research Institute is authorized by the State of Illinois to offer 30 continuing education credits for this training.

 

By the end of the week, you'll have developed or strengthened your ability to:

1. Help clients understand the degree to which their typical reactions during upsetting situations, and their typical style of interacting during non-conflict times, meet (or fail to meet) the prerequisites for relationship success (the specific attitudes and actions that are highly predictive of relationship success or failure).
2. Know exactly what each client needs to do to more fully meet the prerequisites for relationship success in any situation s/he faces.
3. Help each client realize that is in his/her own best interest to meet the prerequisites for relationship success (i.e., those who meet the prerequisites almost always get treated well by their partners).
4. Cultivate a receptive state of mind in each client so that s/he can receive this information non-defensively.
5. Help partners begin to meet the prerequisites for relationship success during therapy sessions by creating internal shifts in each of them, then guiding them toward ways of relating that are highly predictive of relationship success.
6. Help clients recognize the automatic, deeply conditioned nature of histheir typical reactions during upsetting situations.
7. Help clients become more aware of the specific package of automatic reactions (emotional habits) that get activated when they get upset.
8. Help clients realize the necessity of repetitive practice if their emotional habits are ever going to change.
9. Design daily practices for clients that promote new levels of neural integration and recondition outmoded emotional habits.
10. Help clients develop strong motivation to engage in these daily practices.
11. Make personalized  recordings for clients to use daily in their efforts to rewire their brains for more flexibility.
12. Help clients learn to use their smart phones to rewire their emotional habits.
13. Become more aware of, and better able to, shift your own internal states as needed when working as a therapist, and in your own personal life.

Click here for an outline of topics covered during the 5-day training 

It is assumed that participants will have read Dr. Atkinson's book, Emotional Intelligence in Couples Therapy: Advances from Neurobiology and the Science of Intimate Relationships prior to beginning the intensive week of training. During the training, you'll learn how to use various digital technologies to strengthen your therapeutic impact. You'll learn how and when to generate personalized handouts and exercises for your clients, using handouts and exercises from the book, Developing Habits for Relationship Success.

The next 5-day intensive training will be held in at the Couples Research Institute in Geneva, Illinois, May 16-20, 2012. 

Tuition is $1100

TO REGISTER FOR THE TRAINING, call Lori Ross at 630-232-7457, ext. 115, or click here for a registration form.

For a listing of local hotels or other logistical information, call Lori Ross at 630-232-7457 x115, or email her ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

For more information about the content and process of the training, contact Brent Atkinson at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 630-232-7457 ext. 111