PACT 2-Day Workshop with Stan Tatkin: A Psychobiological Framework for Working with Couples

Credit

Faculty

Stan Tatkin, PsyD, MFT Related seminars and products

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Stan Tatkin, PsyD, MFT, is a clinician, researcher, teacher, and developer of a Psychobiological Approach to Couple Therapy (PACT). He teaches and supervises family medicine residents at Kaiser Permanente, Woodland Hills, CA, and is an assistant clinical professor at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Stan Tatkin is the founder and director of the PACT Institute and has employment relationships California Lutheran University and the Santa Barbara Graduate Institute. He receives compensation as a national speaker, couples retreat leader and royalties as a published author. Stan Tatkin receives book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Stan Tatkin has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Additional Info

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Objectives

1. Analyze couple conflict using a psychobiological framework integrating attachment, arousal regulation, and developmental neuroscience. 
2. Differentiate secure-functioning from insecure-functioning couple systems based on observable interaction patterns. 
3. Identify indicators of hyperarousal, hypoarousal, and collapse during couple therapy sessions. 
4. Evaluate how developmental capacity and stress-related regression affect couple functioning. 
5. Assess the impact of memory and perceptual bias on repetitive relational conflict. 
6. Apply principles of arousal regulation to clinical decision-making in high-conflict couples. 
7. Distinguish content-based disputes from state-driven relational breakdowns. 
8. Evaluate therapist stance variables that influence stabilization or escalation in couple therapy. 
9. Integrate a two-person system framework into couple case conceptualization. 
10. Assess the role of attachment strategies in pursuit, withdrawal, and escalation patterns. 
11. Evaluate clinical risks associated with premature insight-oriented or confrontational interventions. 
12. Communicate limitations, risks, and alternatives of psychobiological couple interventions to clients. 

Outline

I. Psychobiological Foundations of Couple Distress 

• Attachment strategies as survival adaptations 

• Arousal regulation and autonomic nervous system states 

• Developmental neuroscience and regulatory capacity 

• Memory, state, and perceptual bias under stress 

• Clinical implications for assessment and intervention timing 

II. Secure vs. Insecure Functioning in Adult Relationships 

• Secure functioning as a two-person system 

• Mutuality, fairness, and shared purpose 

• Pro-self versus pro-relationship behavior 

• Breakdown patterns in insecure-functioning couples 

• Clinical decision-making guided by secure-functioning principles 

III. Clinical Observation and Therapeutic Stance 

• Tracking interaction rather than narrative content 

• Reading somatic, behavioral, and relational cues 

• Therapist regulation and countertransference management 

• System-level versus individual-level interventions 

• Application to conflict, withdrawal, and escalation 

IV. Clinical Application, Limitations, and Risks 

• Application to chronic conflict, thirds, and betrayal 

• Developmental and neurobiological contraindications 

• Limitations of the current research base 

• Risks of misapplication or partial implementation 

• Ethical considerations and informed consent 

Target Audience

• Psychologists
• Physicians
• Nurses
• Counselors
• Marriage and Family Therapists
• Addiction Counselors
• Social Workers

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