Course Description

Course 2 extends the Medical Family Therapy and systemic sex therapy framework introduced in Course 1 into illness that involves contagion, isolation, and acute uncertainty. A brief refresher on the biopsychosocial spiritual model opens the course for participants joining without Course 1, then moves into Person of the Therapist work focused on the clinician's own fear of illness and death, comfort with medical uncertainty, and bias around contaminating conditions.

Clinical content covers respiratory illness (asthma, COPD, cystic fibrosis, and lung cancer) and infectious disease (COVID, HIV/AIDS, and sexually transmitted infections), with particular attention to disclosure dynamics between partners and the near total absence of couple based sex therapy research across these conditions.

Course 1 is recommended but not required. A refresher on the shared framework is built into the session.

Target Audience

This course is designed for licensed and pre-licensed mental health professionals including LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, LEPs,…