Would you like to strengthen your skills with couples (even if you’ve been working with couples for a long time)? Would you like to enrich your work by presenting cases as well as learn from other cases, too? How about a consultation group that includes teaching segments, handouts and resources to further enhance your work with couples?
Whether you’ve been seeing couples for 3 or 30 years, this group is for you. And especially if…
- You have ventured out into private practice, where couples therapy consultations are not automatically provided.
- You would like to build on your strengths and discover your blind spots in your work (we all have them!)
- You would like to take powerful charge in your couples’ sessions verses feeling lost.
- You’re worried about the tricky cases that involve gray areas or confusing conundrums.
- You crave a safe and intimate connection with other clinicians while sharing knowledge and creating trustworthy relationships.
- You like the idea of most of the time spent on case consultation, while also receiving relevant training, tools, handouts and resources from colleagues and from Michelle’s 20+ years of experience of specializing in couples, immersion in learning from some of the top leading experts in couples therapy, training therapists and offering communication workshops for couples.
“I have consulted and received clinical consultation from Michelle for the last 2 years. She is a great teacher and has helped me navigate and solve problems with very challenging couples. She has also helped me strategize and make effective interventions. I have a deep respect and gratitude for her wisdom.” ~Jaye Moyer, LCSW-R
Additional benefits you will receive by joining Michelle’s Couples Therapy Case Consultation Group:
- A Group Email List where you can get support for your cases and stay connected with each other in-between meetings, to create a broader sense of community.
- Rather than isolation, you will have a group of colleagues to lean on for your couples’ cases, even in-between meetings.
- We will do role plays where relevant, so that you can witness or experience implementing new strategies with your couples. We may also do small group exercises at times to practice applying new skills.
- Share and exchange interventions, resources, handouts and tools that we have found to be effective in couples’ work.
- Exposure to more professionals who may refer to you.
- Practice self-care by having a space to work through counter transference, and to discuss therapist identity/skill development with couples.
- Grow your income – therapists who learn from Michelle often report a capacity to help more couples, thereby an increased level of retainment. You will also benefit from the experience and reflections from the other clinicians in the group.
Let’s face it: couples work can be very challenging and very complicated. We all get stuck sometimes, and it is so helpful to get someone else’s perspective.
Your fellow group members will share in, and add to, the joy of becoming the confident couples therapist you aspire to be – no matter how long you have been working with couples.
“As a result of attending Michelle’s Couples Workshop, we have made significant progress that had not been achieved using any other resource. We are still applying the tools we learned even after the workshop is over, and continue to have successes. Your tools had a strong, positive effect on our marriage, thank you!” ~Barbara Craver
STRUCTURE AND FORMAT:
The beginning of each session will be a short mini-training from Michelle on a proven tool or concept that you can implement immediately in your sessions to transform the trajectory of your work. The tools are innovative and powerful, regardless of how long you have been working with couples. The remainder of our meeting will be learning from case discussions.
To be a part of this couples consultation group, you are not required to present a case. If or when you do present a case of yours, you can use any format you like. Some therapists make detailed case presentations. Others briefly describe their couple and pose the question that they are facing.
Michelle’s therapeutic approach is based on the Developmental Model of Couples Therapy, as well as a variety of other approaches based on her vast experience with couples through the years. Clinicians in the group may share their perspective on the cases they hear, based on their own therapeutic approaches. The group will provide an intimate safe atmosphere, making it possible to share authentically.
It’s convenient… You can fit this Couples Therapy Consultation Group in-between your clients and from the comfort of your home or office!
*Please note this group is professional development, and not supervision.
“I am a much better and more capable couples therapist as a result of Michelle’s great teaching. I had a good overview when I started, but not a sense of exactly how to put it all into practice. She was really great at giving all of us the deeper level knowledge and skill development to practice the model well.” ~ Richard Litvak
STRUCTURE AND FORMAT:
Dates in 2025: February 7th & 21st, March 7th & 21st, April 4th & 18th, May 2nd. The group has the potential to continue meeting thereafter.
Times: 9 AM 10:30 AM
Where: Virtually, over Zoom
Cost: Only $79 per session, with a commitment to the entire series, whether you attend live or not.
CE: 10.5 CE provided (1 miss allowed) for an extra $20
Any training portions will be recorded and provided to you if you need to miss a session, however the case consultation portions will not be recorded.
Questions: [email protected] or call/text 650-485-1504 for more information.
Michelle is also available for 1:1 couples therapy case consultations if the above dates and times do not work for you to join this group.
About the Group Facilitator:
Michelle Joy, M.A., MFT has been affiliated with The Couples Institute in Menlo Park, CA (and now CICS), since 2002. A graduate in The Developmental Model of Couples Therapy – Advanced Level, Michelle is a go-to person on the Couples Institute staff for professional trainings. In addition to teaching advanced classes as well as providing consultations and trainings to therapists, Michelle has been a local and national speaker for several professional associations, including PESI.com and CAMFT, on how to help more couples using the Developmental Model. She gets invited to teach expert classes in Dr. Ellyn Bader’s online course that reaches therapists all over the world.
Michelle is also a certified Enneagram Teacher and trainer, enabling her to bring the rich insights of the Enneagram to further deepen her work with couples. She created & hosted the first annual The Enneagram and the Helping Profession Summit in 2024, bringing people together from all over the world.
Michelle has been specializing in couples for over 20 years in her private practice. She teaches communication workshops and offers trainings for couples therapists. You may view testimonials from couples workshop attendees and therapist trainees here: https://michellejoymft.com/testimonials/
Office located in Menlo Park, CA. Serving clients in Menlo Park, Redwood City, Atherton, Palo Alto, Burlingame, San Mateo, Belmont, San Carlos, Campbell, Los Altos, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Portola Valley
CE INFORMATION:
Michelle Joy, MFT (Provider #65866) is approved by the California association of marriage and family therapists to sponsor continuing education for LMFT’s, LCSW’s, LPCC’s and LEP’s. Michelle Joy, MFT maintains responsibility for the program and all its content.
Target Audience: This course is designed for mental health professionals who would like to learn how to deepen their work with couples
Fee: $517 to pay in full with 10% discount; or 2 payments of $277 (first payment due upon registration, second will be due March 21st, 2025)
CE: 10.5 (for an extra payment of $20)
Registration fee is nonrefundable, but you may forward to a future training by Michelle.
Accommodations: To request accommodations for special needs, please email the Program Administrator at [email protected]
Grievances: To obtain the grievance policy or report a grievance please email [email protected] or call 650-485-1504
Certificates: Course Completion certificates will be awarded at the end of the course in exchange for a completed evaluation form and possibly a post test.
