THREE WORKSHOPS ON LOVE AND EROS
WITH STEPHEN HOWARD, MD
In the Spring of 2013, noted couples therapist Stephen Howard will present a special series of three workshops on the subject of intimate relationships. Participants will be able to attend one, two, or all three, with discounts for those who want to attend more than one.
Friday February 15, 2013
EROS
ALL ABOUT ROMANCE, SEX, LOVE,
INTIMACY AND MARRIAGE
5 CEUs
We will explore the dynamics involved in sustaining intimacy, passion and connection in relationships. We will consider how this understanding can help our work as therapists to perplexed individuals and couples.
Is romance the same as love? Why does “the honeymoon” end and what happens when it does? What is marriage today? Why do so many marriages fail, and is there anything therapists can do about this? Can people really love for a lifetime? What is the role of sexual passion over many years? And how is intimacy possible?
When our clients come to us with their problems in romance and love, marriage, intimacy and sex, we ourselves may be unclear about the answers to these questions. Our understanding of their situations will have profound effects on the therapy we do. Our cultural assumptions are often a source of confusion; and while we learn a great deal about therapeutic technique, there is little in the literature to clarify fundamental questions about these subjects. This workshop will offer both theoretical and practical answers to those questions.
Friday April 5, 2013
THE ART AND ETHICS OF
COUPLE THERAPY
5 Ethics CEUs
We will examine some important but too-little-discussed aspects of couples’ lives together, and the insertion of the therapist into this relationship. We will consider the tasks to be accomplished in the clinical work, along with their ethical implications.
How do romance, attraction and love evolve, how are they different, and how do they affect relationships? Why are long-term relationships so difficult today and what is the role of the therapist in addressing these difficulties? Who is considered the client, and is there a place for individual therapy in couples work? What about secrecy, boundaries, values and other ethical issues? When and how does the therapist address sexual matters, and what are the appropriate limits? How do we handle the affair? And finally, how does the therapist take care of him/herself while working with couples?
Friday and Saturday, May 10 – 11
LET’S REALLY TALK ABOUT SEX
A special two-day (ten CEU) adventure
Sex and sexuality are profound mysteries, touching on birth, intimacy, love, identity, morality, longing and joy. No human experience is more ubiquitous, more difficult to discuss socially and in therapy, or more riddled with misconceptions and conventional “wisdom”. Sex brings out the best and worst in us.
When our clients bring to us their issues of sex and sexuality, how lucid is our thinking and how much are we biased by our own cultural, religious, familial and personal experiences? How comfortable are we even talking with them about sex? How much did we learn about it in graduate school – little to none? Do we find ourselves overtly or subtly avoiding the discussion, not asking the questions?
We will consider the astonishing variety and diversity of human sexuality, including chastity, promiscuity, fidelity and infidelity, “perversion”, BDSM, pornography, absexuality, sexual addiction, and the vast subjects of sexual orientation, desire, and gender and transgender identity. We will call on evolutionary and scientific thinking regarding human sexuality, the findings of endocrine and brain research, and the implications of modern medical practice. We will consider the contextual landscapes of culture, history, Scriptural religion, anthropology and psychotherapy. We will conclude with discussions of sex in intimate relationships and dealing with sexual issues in couple therapy.
Partners: Spouses and other partners have often enjoyed the February and May workshops, and are more than welcome.
Place: The LINK Counseling Center, 348 Mt. Vernon Highway in Sandy Springs
Time: 9:00 a.m. until 3:45 p.m.
Credits: approved by LPCA, NASW-GA, and GAMFT. AASECT and APA credits applied for.
