Couple standing back to back against grey wall, shadows are prominent against the wall
CPD Credits
16
Event Type
Live Online Event
Location
Zoom & Not Recorded
Time (UK)
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Standard
£1,250.00
Trainee/NHS
£1,000.00
Book Tickets
Couple standing back to back against grey wall, shadows are prominent against the wall
Monday, April 20, 2026 - Monday, July 6, 2026

An Introduction to Therapy with Couples

Explore central theoretical concepts of psychodynamic couple therapy

With Ellen Burridge & Shannon Ashton

In this 10-week online seminar series, participants will explore what it is like to work with couples in therapy. This comprehensive series offers both the opportunity to read theory by key figures in the field and to think, through group discussion, about its application in the work with couples. Film clips and relevant case material are also used to help you gain deeper insight and understanding into this fascinating and burgeoning area in the field of psychotherapy.

Topics covered include what brings couples together, shared unconscious relationships and couple fit, holding the ‘couple in mind’ in therapy, unconscious phantasy and beliefs, projective processes in couples, sex and sexualities, aggression and violence in couples, couples and parenting, ageing and relationships, depression and psychological issues, attachment styles within couples, and intergenerational aspects in relationships. Time is spent as a group discussing and reflecting on these topics, this type of work and the dynamic of couple relationships in therapy. With three in the room the work becomes quite different.

Our seminar leaders are both experienced couple therapists themselves, trained at Tavistock Relationships and immersed in the TR model of understanding and working with couples. This course offers CPD credits for psychotherapists and is a fantastic grounding to pursue any of our clinical trainings, whether you are a beginner looking for a career change or trained to work with individuals and interested to learn more about being with a couple in the room.

Please be aware this course does not result in a clinical qualification allowing you to undertake any form of practice in the field of Couple Psychotherapy and Counselling.

Programme

First Encounters: The couple and the Culture they Create

Each session includes a theoretical discussion, case material as well as time to think about what it might be like to work with couples.

There will be papers to read in advance available in your online learning hub account.

First Encounters: In the room

Each session includes a theoretical discussion, case material as well as time to think about what it might be like to work with couples.

There will be papers to read in advance available in your online learning hub account.

 

Projective Processes: 'It's not me it's you!'

Each session includes a theoretical discussion, case material as well as time to think about what it might be like to work with couples.

There will be papers to read in advance available in your online learning hub account.

Difference. The Seen and Unseen: Race, Intersectionality, Identity, Sexuality

Each session includes a theoretical discussion, case material as well as time to think about what it might be like to work with couples.

There will be papers to read in advance available in your online learning hub account.

The Oedipal Situation and the Third: When two become three.

Each session includes a theoretical discussion, case material as well as time to think about what it might be like to work with couples.

There will be papers to read in advance available in your online learning hub account.

Where do siblings and the wider family sit in couple relationships?

Each session includes a theoretical discussion, case material as well as time to think about what it might be like to work with couples.

There will be papers to read in advance available in your online learning hub account.

Sex and sexuality: Through the Lens of the Psychosexual Model

Each session includes a theoretical discussion, case material as well as time to think about what it might be like to work with couples.

There will be papers to read in advance available in your online learning hub account.

Attachment and the Couple

Each session includes a theoretical discussion, case material as well as time to think about what it might be like to work with couples.

There will be papers to read in advance available in your online learning hub account.

Mentalization Based Therapy for Couples

Each session includes a theoretical discussion, case material as well as time to think about what it might be like to work with couples.

There will be papers to read in advance available in your online learning hub account.

Couples in Crisis: Divorce and separation & Endings, Ageing and Loss

Each session includes a theoretical discussion, case material as well as time to think about what it might be like to work with couples.

There will be papers to read in advance available in your online learning hub account.

Ellen Burridge

Ellen Burridge is a couple psychoanalytic psychotherapist and an individual psychodynamic counselling psychotherapist. She trained at Tavistock Relationships and works there as a visiting clinician and tutor to current students. She runs a private practice in South Oxfordshire and also consults for a charity which offers therapy to couples facing the impact of rare genetic (and often life-limiting) conditions within the family.

Shannon Ashton

Shannon Ashton is an Individual and Couple Psychodynamic Counsellor and Psychotherapist. She trained here at Tavistock Relationships where she now works as a visiting clinician, assessor, and co-trainer on the Introductory Course. She has a particular interest in understanding the influence our emotional experiences have upon the quality of our closest relationships, and the impact this can have on both our mental health and overall wellbeing.

Book Tickets