Sex therapy has become less medicalized, individual and symptom-focused, and more relational. In turn, couples therapists have become more informed about sex therapy. Because EFT attends directly to issues of security, trust and bonding, it is a natural approach for helping couples to re-ignite their sexual connection. Because couples like Mark and Julie do not typically bring up their sex lives with their therapist, it is the therapist’s job to focus on the sexual relationship as bonds of trust, security and attachment are strengthened.
Mark and Julie, already in couples therapy with EFT expert and trainer Lisa Palmer-Olsen, took advantage of an opportunity to obtain a consultation session with EFT and sexual issues expert Jeff Hickey. They have grown distant from each other emotionally and sexually. Shared and individual frustrations along with stressors in and outside of their relationship have driven a deep wedge between them. Mark is tired of being Julie’s caretaker and struggles with deeply-hidden feelings of rejection, frustration and mortality. A recovering addict who also struggles with her body image, Julie feels like she has failed both herself and Mark, and may be the cause of the couple’s sexual problems. Tension, anger, disconnection and non-communication have taken the place of sexual intimacy, emotional sharing and security. They hope Hickey can help.
Hickey’s masterful use of EFT’s focus on underlying attachment issues and dysfunctional patterns will help you address sexuality in your own couples work. His strategic relationship-focused interviewing, use of enactment, psychoeducation and prescribed behavioral techniques will expand your own repertoire of helping skills with couples like Mark and Julie. By opening your own couples work to sexual issues, your couples will rekindle the flames of their own intimacy.
Length of video: 1:53:45
English subtitles available
Group ISBN-10 #: 1-60124-564-5
Group ISBN-13 #: 978-1-60124-564-9
Jeff Hickey, LCSW, CST is the director and president of the Chicago Center for Emotionally Focused Therapy (chicagoeft.com). He has been practicing and teaching Emotionally Focused Couples therapy for over 15 years and over that time has presented many trainings and workshops around the country. He has also presented on the intersection of sexuality and couple relationships, an area of growing interest among clinicians. Jeff is also a certified sex therapist and has over 30 years of clinical experience working with a broad range of couples presenting with a wide variety of concerns, including trauma and sexuality.
Lisa Palmer-Olsen, PsyD is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in San Diego California. She is a Certified EFT Therapist, Trainer, and Supervisor, and is a Founder and one of the Directors of the Emotionally Focused Couples Training and Research Institute at Alliant International University. Dr. Palmer-Olsen’s primary clinical and research interests are in the areas of couple and family therapy; specifically with those couples and families dealing with trauma and attachment related struggles. She is an AAMFT clinical member and approved AAMFT supervisor. Dr. Palmer-Olsen is also co-founder and clinic director for the Alliant Couple and Family Clinic (ACFC), a San Diego-based nonprofit therapy clinic. The ACFC specializes in family and couple therapy offering individual and group counseling sessions for military and all clients in distressed relationships. As the clinical director, Dr. Palmer-Olsen supervises and teaches the EFT model, as well as works families herself.
CE credits: 1.75
Learning Objectives:
- Explain how core EFT principles apply to sexual intimacy problems
- Describe specific EFT techniques for removing blocks to sexual intimacy
- Design relationally-based treatment plans for couples with sexual issues
Bibliography available upon request
This course is offered for ASWB ACE credit for social workers. See complete list of CE approvals here
© 2019