Love in Translation: Working with Common Conflict in Couples' Communication

Description

Couples often arrive in therapy naming “communication” as the problem, yet what unfolds in the room may involve far more than poor word choice. Clinicians often find themselves challenged by the intensity of couples’ conflicts, where blame, defensiveness, withdrawal, misunderstanding, and competing interpretations can block connection and collaborative problem-solving.

This training translates relationship science, communication theory, and couples therapy practice into a concrete clinical framework for helping couples better understand and work through common conflict patterns. Rather than treating conflict as something to eliminate, the course explores how clinicians can help partners slow down reactive cycles, clarify what is underneath the presenting argument, and move toward more respectful, emotionally attuned communication.

Dr. Corey Petersen, MA, MS, Ph.D, LCMFT, brings a strong background in communication, psychology, and marriage and family therapy to this topic. Her doctoral work in communication studies, clinical experience with couples, training in Gottman Level I and II, collaborative couples therapy, dyadic coping, and domestic mediation inform her practical approach to helping clinicians assess conflict, teach communication skills, and maintain a structured therapeutic stance with couples.

Dr. Petersen’s approach uses communication theory, clinical examples, psychoeducation, and applied exercises to help clinicians move beyond general advice about “better communication.” Participants will explore the therapist’s role in couples work, including how to treat the relationship as the client, avoid taking sides, hold hope without imposing values, and attend to safety and boundaries when conflict becomes more complex.

This course covers common destructive communication patterns, including criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling, while also helping clinicians distinguish between solvable and perpetual problems in couples’ relationships. Participants will explore the Circle of Conflict framework, positions versus underlying interests, dialectical tensions such as autonomy versus connection and stability versus change, and practical strategies for de-escalation, repair, structured dialogue, and collaborative problem-solving.

Key Takeaways

• Understand what “communication problems” may really mean: Learn to look beyond surface-level arguments and identify the communication styles, listening patterns, emotional responses, and underlying meanings that shape couples’ conflict.
• Assess conflict with greater clinical precision: Explore tools for distinguishing destructive communication patterns, solvable versus perpetual problems, positions versus interests, and different types of conflict, including relationship, data, interest, structural, and value conflicts.
• Use practical interventions to slow escalation and support repair: Gain strategies for helping couples de-escalate, take responsibility, use soft start-ups, make repair attempts, practice structured listening, and work toward more collaborative problem-solving.

Why This Course?

• Practical structure for difficult couples sessions: Couples work can become overwhelming when partners are activated, defensive, withdrawn, or competing to be understood. This course offers a clearer framework for assessing what is happening and deciding how to intervene.
• A communication-informed approach to relational conflict: Dr. Petersen integrates communication theory with couples therapy practice, helping clinicians recognize how tone, language, meaning, listening, power, and interpretation shape conflict in real time.
• Clinically grounded and ethically attentive: The training addresses not only skills and interventions, but also the therapist’s stance, cultural humility, no-secrets policies, safety concerns, triangulation, and the importance of supporting the couple’s goals without imposing the clinician’s values.

Learning Objectives

• Identify and analyze the communication patterns and behaviors that contribute to destructive conflict cycles in couples, including criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling.
• Differentiate between solvable and perpetual problems in couples therapy, applying assessment strategies informed by research.
• Utilize the Circle of Conflict framework to distinguish between positional arguments and underlying interests, values, and needs driving relational tension.
• Demonstrate evidence-based interventions—such as soft start-ups, repair attempts, and mindfulness-based de-escalation—to guide couples toward collaborative problem-solving.
• Integrate communication theory principles to help clients recognize and manage dialectical tensions (e.g., autonomy vs. connection, stability vs. change) within relationship dynamics.
• Apply experiential and dialogue-based exercises to cultivate empathy, improve perspective-taking, and strengthen emotional attunement between partners.

Couples’ conflict can feel chaotic, repetitive, and difficult to contain, but it can also reveal important information about partners’ needs, fears, values, and hopes for the relationship. Join the Telehealth Certification Institute for this practical training and strengthen your ability to help couples slow down conflict, understand each other more clearly, and engage difficult conversations with greater skill and care.

Format and Access

This is a non-interactive, self-study program and consists of 6 hours of video instruction and a post-test.

Course Details

Availability: 

From the time of registration, you have six months to access the coursework.

Who Should Attend: 

This course is intended for clinicians who provide behavioral health services.

Teaching Methods: 

This is a non-interactive, self-study course. Teaching methods for this course include recorded lectures, videos, a post-test, and a course evaluation.

How to Attend: 

Course access and completion instructions.

Instructor and Disclosures

Instructor

About Corey Petersen, MA, MS, Ph.D, LCMFT

Dr. Corey Petersen is a communication specialist and the owner of Communication and Connection Therapy. She completed her Ph.D. in Communication Studies at the University of Kansas, where her research focused on psychotherapeutic language and communication ethics. Prior to her Ph.D., Dr. Petersen earned a Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Studies and Professional Communication. She has over 9 years of collegiate communication and psychology teaching experience and is currently a continuing education and corporate trainer. When not teaching, Dr. Petersen can be found working and meeting with clients in her private practice.

Disclosure Statement: 

The instructor(s) for this course receive compensation for their services. There are no reported conflicts of interest to disclose.

CE Hours

Credit Hours:

This course consists of 6 continuing education hours of credit.

Counselors:

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No, 6693.  Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified.  Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Mental Health Counselors. #MHC-0048.

Marriage and Family Therapists:

Many MFT licensing boards accept our courses or one of the approvals which we have from professional associations.  You can check with your board to determine if your licensing board would accept this course.

Social Workers:

Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, #1609, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 05/02/2024 – 05/02/2027. Social workers completing this course receive 6 clinical continuing education credits.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Social Workers #SW-0435.

Addiction Professionals:

Addiction Professionals: This course has been approved by Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits. NAADAC Provider #193104, Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is responsible for all aspects of the programming.

Psychologists:

Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Telehealth Certification Institute LLC maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Psychologists #PSY-0128.

Art Therapists:

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Creative Arts Therapists #CAT-0093.

Other Professionals:

This course qualifies for 360 minutes of instructional content as required by many national, state and local licensing boards and professional organizations.  Retain your certificate of completion and contact your board or organization for specific filing requirements.

This course is a non-interactive, online self-study.

Participants may request a printed version of their certificate of completion to be delivered by mail. A shipping/handling fee of $6.95 will be charged per request. Shipping internationally may require an additional charge.

Accommodations and Policies

Close Captioning is available for live webinars and recorded video presentations.

You can click on the following links to view our policies:

• Accommodations for Individuals with Disabilities.
• Cancellation Policy
• Grievance Policy
• Support Options
• Disclosure Statement