Couples Webinar Series

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Understanding military culture and the ways military service and deployments impact couples is critical when providing counseling to military-connected clients.

The Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP) at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) now offers webinars which are specially designed to support clinicians who provide couples counseling to this population.  The courses currently offered are: Military-Connected Couples: Elements of the Assessment Process, Military-Connected Couples: Evidence-Based Approaches to Treatment, Military-Connected Couples: An Intervention Model for Treating Infidelity, and Intimate Partner Violence: An Overview of Assessment and Response with Military-Connected Clients. Each course is two hours long and incorporates research, best clinical practices and interactive activities. The courses are stand-alone and participants can take one or all four depending on their interest. Registration for each course is $10. 


Military-Connected Couples: Elements of the Assessment Process

This training provides military and civilian mental health providers with information about key elements of the assessment process when treating military and Veteran couples.  The components of an initial assessment will be reviewed with a specific focus on how aspects of military culture impact their relationships.  In addition, a variety of assessment tools will be presented including self-report measures and genograms.

Learning objectives:

  1. Specify two assessment tools that can be used with military-connected couples.
  2. Determine the components of a comprehensive clinical interview with military-connected couples

Military-Connected Couples: Evidence-Based Approaches to Treatment

This training provides active duty and civilian mental health providers with information about evidence-based interventions that can be used with military and Veteran couples. It begins with a review of the basic demographics of military couples and a discussion of normative stressors associated with military marriages as well as the impact of deployment on couples.  Then three evidence-based couples interventions, derived from Dr. John Gottman, Dr. Sue Johnson and other experts, are presented with explanation of ways they can be used with military and Veteran couples.  The training concludes with an exploration of relationship strengths and resilience factors, with an emphasis on promoting resilience in military couples.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Specify three evidence-based interventions clinicians can use when working with military and Veteran couples
  2. Explore ways to promote strength and resilience in military-connected couples 

Military-Connected Couples: An Intervention Model for Treating Infidelity

This training provides active duty and civilian mental health providers with an overview of Dr. Douglas Snyders' three-stage model for treating infidelity.  The training begins by defining behaviors that constitute an affair and then explores issues which may be specific to military couples.  Next, the three-stage model is introduced along with tasks to be accomplished during therapy and treatment goals for each stage. 

Learning Objectives:

  1. Characterize the three stages of Dr. Douglas Snyder’s model for treating infidelity
  2. Explore two interventions behavioral health providers can use with military couples to contain emotional turmoil following discovery or disclosure of an affair

Intimate Partner Violence: An Overview of Assessment and Response with Military-Connected Clients

This training provides active duty and civilian mental health providers with an overview of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) with military-connected clients. First, we will examine data regarding the prevalence of IPV. A review of the literature on the intersection of IPV and military culture will also be presented, along with key assessment elements, important questions to ask, and screening tools that can be used. Finally, we will review programs and resources available to prevent and respond to IPV with this population.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Discriminate between health, unhealthy, and abusive dynamics in intimate partner relationships
  2. Explore the programs that exist to address intimate partner violence with military-connected clients