When Couples Use Therapy to Prove Who’s Right (2 CEU's)

COUPLES, FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS
When Couples Use Therapy to Prove Who’s Right – 2 CEUs

Overview:
Couples frequently enter therapy hoping for validation, understanding, and relationship improvement; however, some couples arrive with a different goal: obtaining confirmation that one partner is right and the other is wrong. Sessions can quickly become structured around evidence gathering, scorekeeping, historical debates, and efforts to recruit the therapist as an authority figure or judge. Partners may repeatedly seek agreement, attempt to prove facts, cite prior conversations, or pressure the therapist to determine responsibility for relational problems. These dynamics can create significant challenges for clinicians attempting to maintain neutrality, preserve alliance with both partners, and shift treatment away from adversarial patterns.

In this presentation, Dr. Zairys Feliz, Ph.D., LCSW, participants will explore practical and relational approaches for working with couples who use therapy as a platform to establish correctness rather than promote understanding and change. Attendees will examine the underlying emotional and attachment needs that often drive these dynamics, including fear of invalidation, shame, control struggles, unmet relational needs, power imbalances, and unresolved injuries. The course will address common therapist pitfalls such as over-focusing on factual accuracy, inadvertently reinforcing polarization, or becoming triangulated into relationship disputes. Participants will learn practical interventions for redirecting conversations from fact-finding toward emotional meaning, strengthening therapeutic structure, maintaining neutrality, and helping couples move from positional arguments toward relational understanding. Through case examples and applied discussion, attendees will gain tools for managing one of couples therapy’s most common and frustrating treatment dynamics.

Objectives:

1. Identify emotional and relational factors that contribute to adversarial dynamics and attempts to establish “rightness” in couples therapy.

2. Recognize therapist pitfalls that may unintentionally reinforce polarization or triangulation.

3. Apply practical interventions that support neutrality, emotional exploration, and more productive therapeutic engagement.

Scope and Limitations Disclosure
This course provides licensed and pre-licensed mental health professionals with an overview of clinical approaches for managing adversarial dynamics in couples therapy. Participants will learn practical assessment and intervention strategies relevant to relational clinical practice. This training does not provide certification in couples therapy modalities or comprehensive instruction in advanced relational treatment approaches. Participants are expected to apply course material within their professional scope of practice, ethical standards, and clinical judgment.

Financial and Commercial Disclosure
The presenter has no relevant financial relationships or conflicts of interest to disclose. Any references to therapeutic 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.