Patterns in Abusive Relationships

Course overview

Abusive relationships tend to follow patterns for behaviors, underlying emotional needs, and cognitive distortions related to those patterns. Important topics and skills for helping clinicians and their clients identify these patterns and their underlying causes will be reviewed. This comprehensive course will review the evidence and breakthroughs provided by research as well as undoing past misconceptions and errors in past research on codependency. Areas of focus for the course will include the development and use of codependency, understanding Dependent Personality Disorder, attachment styles, and using tools with clients. Practice on using specifically the wheel of power and control, the four horsemen, the love languages, and the sound relationship house will be completed. Identifying common problems with problems with transference with those with dependent traits will be discussed as well as peer discussion of case vignettes. Steps for recent research on treatment/symptom management will be broken down into obtainable steps with time to discuss complications. This course will complete an overview of the most common questions to use for clients to be able to help you better directly address the underlying problems by using the therapeutic alliance rather than at its cost. In digestible and simple terms, ways of approaching the subject with analogy and exploring values through pointed questions will be reviewed as well. The seminar will be presented through zoom and will include time for questions, practicing skills, and interacting with others in the course.