Conference Agenda

Philip Snell, LPC

Current trends in parenting involve high engagement and attention, patience and attendance to kids emotional needs, and high standards for parents across family, friends, and social media. This represents a large departure from parenting norms for previous generations and navigating these intergenerational differences can lead to conflict among partners, shame, guilt, and overanxious parents. Identifying common values and expectations among parents can be a step forward for counselors seeking to strengthen parenting relationship, or repair and rebuild the relationship after conflict.

Emily Lacey, Ed.D, LPCC-S, AASECT CST

This course offers therapists a modern, evidence-based approach to Sensate Focus, blending the original framework with current research on mindfulness, interoception, and the neurobiology of touch. Participants will learn how to guide clients through structured exercises, reduce performance pressure, and foster presence in intimate connection. Practical strategies will address barriers such as trauma, anxiety, and low desire, while highlighting ways to adapt Sensate Focus for diverse clients. The course also explores integration with other therapeutic modalities, giving therapists a flexible, holistic toolkit to support healing and reconnection in both individuals and couples.

Annie St. Clair, M.Ed., LPCA, NCC

High-conflict couples often become stuck in cycles that make communication difficult and repair essential. This workshop integrates motivational interviewing and attachment theory to provide clinicians with practical strategies for breaking those cycles. Motivational interviewing will be explored as a way to increase client accountability by guiding partners to reflect on areas of disconnection and growth. An attachment lens will be applied to help couples establish ground rules for conflict, create safety, and foster trust. Clinicians will leave with concrete tools to support both immediate conflict regulation and long-term relational repair.

Butch Losey, Ed.D.,LPCC-S; Waybridge Counseling. Cincinnati, Ohio

Polyvagal Theory has significantly shaped trauma-informed therapy and modern couples work, influencing how clinicians understand nervous system states, emotional flooding, shutdown, co-regulation, and relational safety. These concepts have become central to interventions with high-conflict couples, betrayal trauma, attachment injuries, and chronic disconnection. However, recent peer-reviewed neuroscience research—including a February 2026 international review authored by 39 autonomic nervous system experts—has challenged several of the theory’s core biological claims. This emerging research invites clinicians to reconsider what is metaphor, what is model, and what is established physiology.

This workshop offers a balanced, clinically grounded review of the current science and its practical implications for couples therapy. Participants will examine what aspects of nervous system-informed work remain well supported, what has been challenged, and how to refine clinical language and interventions accordingly. Rather than dismissing the value of regulation-based approaches, this presentation equips clinicians to integrate updated neuroscience into their work with couples in crisis—enhancing precision, ethical practice, and therapeutic effectiveness.

Lois Curry-Catanese, LPC

The betrayal trauma of infidelity violates an individual’s core belief about trust and safety (Weigel & Shrout, 2021; Jules et al., 2022). Similar to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), betrayed individuals re-experience the betrayal of infidelity through depression, anxiety, hyperarousal, hypersensitivity, rumination, rage, and grief with thoughts of suicide. Women report a geater distress following a partner's infielity than men (Shackleford et al., 2000, SHrout & Weigel, 2018) The constant fear of infidelity happening again leaves women in survival mode (Sauerheber and Disque, 2016). These life-threatening psychological and physiological symptoms and behavioral responses are key components of post-infidelity stress. Many therapists struggle with balancing the needs of the couple versus the betrayed individual (Irvine & Peluso, 2022; O’Rourke et al, 2024). The ethical dilemma comes when the therapist does not recognize the stress and emotional reaction as a traumatic response, therefore misdiagnosing the betrayed client.

Leandrea Romero-Lucero, Ph.D., LPCC-NM, ACS, CSOTS

Research shows the positive impact kinship placement can have for the child (Epstein, 2007; Font, 2015), however there is no consistent way kinship caregivers, specifically couples, are supported once the child is placed in their care. This session will demonstrate how the theory of ambiguous loss (Boss, 1999) can be applied in a group format to provide support for couples who are also kin guardians to address the feelings of loss they face individually and as a couple.

Colleen Lehman, MA, LPCC

As our collective understanding of ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) evolves, we are invited to explore the role that neurodiversity plays in communication and conflict patterns in cross-neurotype relationships. This workshop highlights, and provides neurodiversity affirming language for, dynamics common in neurodiverse couples. These patterns can be subtle, especially early in a relationship, but the compounding effect of these dynamics over time can lead to immense resentment for both partners, high conflict, and separation/divorce if gone unaddressed. This workshop provides learners with a treatment lens to support partners in working with, rather than against, their unique brains.

Mariah Gallagher, LCSW

Couples often get stuck in fight, flight, or freeze states, making repair and connection difficult.
This workshop teaches clinicians how to help partners notice bodily cues, use somatic
strategies, and restore emotional safety. Through orientation, co-regulated breathing,
micro-movements, and other trauma-informed exercises, participants learn how to guide
couples to calm their nervous systems, reconnect, and co-regulate in real time, turning
physiological activation into an opportunity for relational repair.

LaDonna Carey, MA

Couples in crisis often arrive overwhelmed, emotionally volatile, and unsure of what comes next. This session offers a structured pre-therapy protocol designed to determine whether the room is safe enough for joint work before engaging in Discernment Counseling or couples therapy.

Drawing from betrayal trauma science, Critical Discourse Analysis, crisis psychology, and Psychological First Aid, this workshop teaches clinicians how to evaluate accountability, emotional stability, manipulative language patterns, and relational safety. Participants leave with clear, practical interventions to stabilize high-risk couples and identify when joint work is appropriate, premature, or unsafe.

Dr. Mariah Plociniak, LMFT

Hormonal transitions like PMDD, perimenopause, and menopause can upend emotional regulation, sexual desire, and relational connection which is often misinterpreted as purely relational problems. This workshop helps clinicians recognize the intersection between endocrine shifts and attachment dynamics, reframing these changes as shared challenges rather than personal failures. Attendees will gain practical tools for addressing desire loss, irritability, and emotional dysregulation within couples, while strengthening communication, empathy, and safety during this complex life phase.

Dr. Brittany Pope, LPCC (OH) LPC (AK)

This training equips counselors to deliver neurodiversity-affirming couple therapy by integrating evidence-based models with affirming adaptations during perceived and unexpected crisis events. Participants learn to distinguish affirming vs. deficit frameworks, assess neurotype differences (sensory, communication, executive functioning, double empathy), and co-create strengths-based goals during crisis interventions. The course teaches practical accommodations, inclusive communication strategies, co regulation, and structured repair processes respecting processing speed and sensory needs. Clinicians will mitigate bias, use clear documentation, and track outcomes with validated measures and session feedback, adapting interventions based on data for crises in the couple relationship.

Isabel Gruenhagen, MS, LPC

Given the fundamental differences between polyamorous and monogamous relationship structures, recognizing and addressing crises implies a specifically-tailored skillset. This program explores common patterns and pitfalls in clinical settings, such as boundary violations, jealousy, and communication breakdowns. Practical applications include navigating trust repair, competing needs, and relational resilience in ethically non-monogamous constellations. Since clients engaging in polyamory and other forms of ethical non-monogamy (ENM) often find themselves in the role of educating their counselors and therapists—creating barriers to timely crisis intervention—this program also includes a brief introduction to key concepts including terminology and cultural considerations.