Therapy With Couples Who Threaten Divorce Every Session (3 CEU's)

COUPLES, FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS
Therapy With Couples Who Threaten Divorce Every Session – 3 CEUs

Overview:
Some couples enter treatment caught in recurring cycles where threats of separation or divorce become a central feature of conflict. Statements such as “maybe we should just get divorced,” “I’m done,” or “I can’t do this anymore” may emerge repeatedly during arguments, moments of distress, or attempts to gain emotional leverage. Over time, these threats can create chronic instability, emotional insecurity, fear, and escalating relational reactivity. Therapists working with these couples often face significant challenges determining whether divorce threats reflect genuine intent, emotional dysregulation, protest behavior, avoidance, attachment distress, or longstanding patterns of communication and control.

In this presentation, Dr. Zairys Feliz, Ph.D., LCSW, participants will examine practical and relational approaches for working with couples in which repeated threats of separation or divorce dominate treatment. Attendees will explore the emotional and relational functions these statements may serve, including expressions of hopelessness, attachment injury, fear of abandonment, protest behavior, emotional escalation, power struggles, and attempts to create distance or regain control. The course will address common therapist challenges including alliance pressures, treatment paralysis, emotional volatility, and uncertainty regarding whether repair work or discernment conversations are most clinically appropriate. Participants will learn practical strategies for assessing intent, identifying recurring patterns, reducing escalation cycles, facilitating emotionally meaningful dialogue, and helping couples distinguish crisis language from actual decision-making. Through case examples and applied discussion, attendees will gain practical tools for treating one of couples therapy’s most emotionally charged and destabilizing presentations.

Objectives:

1. Identify emotional and relational functions that repeated divorce threats may serve within couples dynamics.

2. Differentiate attachment protest, emotional escalation, avoidance, and genuine separation intentions.

3. Apply practical interventions that support assessment, emotional regulation, and more productive relational conversations.

Scope and Limitations Disclosure
This course provides licensed and pre-licensed mental health professionals with an overview of clinical approaches for treating couples experiencing chronic separation or divorce threat dynamics. Participants will learn practical assessment and intervention strategies relevant to relational clinical practice. This training does not provide certification in discernment counseling, mediation, or specialized divorce intervention models. Participants are expected to apply course content within their professional scope of practice, ethical standards, and ongoing consultation when appropriate.

Financial and Commercial Disclosure
The presenter has no relevant financial relationships or conflicts of interest to disclose. Any references to relational frameworks, attachment concepts, interventions, or resources are included solely for educational purposes. Participants are not required to purchase any additional materials to complete this course.

Refund Policy – Live CE Trainings (Virtual & In-Person)
All registrations for live CE trainings are subject to this refund policy. By enrolling, participants agree to these terms. Cancellations made 7 days or more prior to the scheduled training date are eligible for a full refund minus a $25 administrative fee, or participants may elect to receive a full credit toward a future training. Cancellations made less than 7 days before the scheduled training are non-refundable; however, registrations may be transferred to another eligible training or another attendee with prior written approval. Participants who fail to attend a scheduled live training, do not complete attendance requirements, or fail to satisfy course participation requirements are not eligible for refunds or CEUs. If a training is canceled or rescheduled by the provider, registrants will be offered either a full refund or the opportunity to transfer to another training. Refunds will not be issued if participants are unable to earn CEUs due to incomplete attendance, failure to complete required evaluations, or licensing board eligibility restrictions.