Roxana Nicolau and the Romanian Institute of Schema Therapy invite you to an interactive workshop focusing on practical aspects of intervention in couple therapy.
Workshop: Coffee, Tea … WE – Applications of Schema Therapy in Working with Couples
Date: 12 – 13 August 2022
Time: 10,00 – 18,00
Format: face to face
Number of places: limited (20 participants)
Cost: 900 Ron with the possibility of reducing costs if participants have been students of the Romanian Institute of Schema Therapy or have attended courses held by Roxana Nicolau within ARTCC or AMPP or are in a supervisory process coordinated by Roxana Nicolau (the reduced cost is 750 Ron).
Registration is done by sending an email to training@roxananicolau.ro – payment is made only after confirmation of registration.
The therapeutic working model in Schema Therapy uses the basic idea of unmet childhood emotional needs that results in schemas and coping strategies directly linked to the individual’s adaptation to the frustration of these needs. In couple relationships, “schema chemistry” plays an important role when choosing partners, and often we end up in the same complementary roles we became accustomed to in childhood and engage in the same struggle with the same strategies we learned as children, perpetuating and alternating a growing, cyclical, and reciprocal series of “getting on each other’s nerves”.
The two days of training offer both a theoretical and an applicative framework and describe through slides, videos, and live demonstrations, how interaction patterns arise in relationships and how these can be modified by becoming aware of the frustrations caused by unmet basic emotional needs, by reconnecting with the help of imagery techniques, and by connecting through dialogues between the Healthy Adult Modes of each partner.
Aspects regarding the stages of evolution in couples, quarrels in couples, communication blocks, confusion between desires and basic emotional needs, aspects regarding sexuality in relationships, emotional infidelity, sexual but also financial infidelity, will be addressed. Many, if not the majority of couples, come to our office with wounds that affect their sexual self. Sex can activate schemas of defectiveness, distrust/abuse, and emotional deprivation resulting in “detached protective” sex, “control perfectionist” sex or “amplifier” sex (to name a few!) – in these two working days we will learn to conceptualize couples’ issues using different maps of their reaction modes, maps that will guide clients in their couple life outside therapy, counseling, or coaching hours.
Like a dance, a healthy couple relationship is a constant balance between attachment and autonomy: if we become too independent, we risk leaving the relationship, if we cling too much, we risk suffocating our partner. Couple therapy can help partners use both legs in a balanced manner in the relationship dynamics, helping with awareness related to their own balance, memories of parents’ dance, or memories of dancing with parents.
The workshop is aimed at professionals who want to supplement their therapeutic work skills in couples whether they are psychologists, psychotherapists, counselors, or coaches.
Roxana Nicolau is one of the founders and Vice President of the Romanian Institute of Schema Therapy. She holds a Master’s degree in Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapies. She has 15 years of experience in clinical psychology and individual and couple psychotherapy. Roxana is a trainer and supervisor in both cognitive-behavioral therapy and clinical psychology, as well as a recognized trainer and supervisor by the International Society of Schema Therapy.