Supplanting Prideful Monologue with Humble Dialogue 3 CEUs (PAID)

In-Person and Virtual Option for 3 CEUs

Enrico Gnaulati PhD

Key thought leaders in the couples therapy world tell us that marital satisfaction does not presuppose the absence of conflict, or even the skillful use of learned conflict resolution techniques, but a greater willingness to take wholesome reparative steps to recover from heated disagreements by being overt with one’s appreciation, gratitude, and affectionate gestures. A dialogical existential approach to couples therapy is uniquely suited to sensitize clients to the communicative goodwill and reciprocal fairness that lessens the frequency and volatility of conflict stemming from reactive prideful monologue, while engendering an appreciation for the constructive role of guilt, apology rendering, and openness to forgiveness that are constituitive of humble dialogue.

Existentially-informed couples therapy can help demystify the extravagant expectations people expect from intimate relationships, normalize the inescapable mundane aspects of conjugal life, and create urgency for change by referencing the preeminent value of loving relationships and the anticipatory guilt and dread associated with insufficiently loving a cherished spouse or life partner in the context of that person’s mortality. This workshop will explore these themes and more in ways that have practical utility for psychotherapists seeking an existential framework with which to perform couples work.

Enrico Gnaulati Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist based in Pasadena, California, and Affiliate Professor of Psychology at Seattle University. He has published numerous journal and magazine articles and his work has been featured on Spectrum News, Al Jazeera America, China Global Television Network, KPCC Los Angeles, KPFK, Los Angeles, KPBS, San Diego, WBUR, Boston, KPFA Berkeley, Wisconsin Public Radio, Public Radio Tulsa, Free Thought Radio, and in print/online at the Atlantic, Salon, Psychology Today, Free Inquiry, Yes! Magazine, and Psychotherapy Networker, as well as reviewed in Maclean's, Pacific Standard, the Huffington Post, The Australian, Prevention and the New Yorker. As a blogger for Mad in America and PsychAlive, board member for the Psychotherapy Action Network (PsiAN), and through his writings and advocacy efforts he is considered a nationally recognized reformer of mental health practice and policy. His books include: Back to Normal: Why Ordinary Childhood Behavior is Mistaken for ADHD, Bipolar Disorder, and Autism Spectrum Disorder (Beacon Press, 2013), Saving Talk Therapy: How Health Insurers, Big Pharma, and Slanted Science are Ruining Good Mental Health Care (Beacon Press, 2018), and Emotion-Regulating Play Therapy with ADHD Children: Staying with Playing (Jason Aronson, 2008). His latest books are Flourishing Love: A Secular Guide to Lasting Intimate Relationships (Karnac Books, 2023) and Peacemaking with Preschoolers: Conflict Resolution to Promote Emotional Mastery and Harmonious Classrooms, (GoodMedia Press, 2024).

Host or Publisher Seattle University Department of Psychology