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

When Couples Come to Therapy, They’re Stuck — Here’s How to Finally Break the Cycle

When couples come to therapy, it’s because they’re stuck — repeating the same fights, shutdowns, and escalations over and over again.

As the therapist, the pressure is on you to help them break that cycle.

But here’s the real challenge: what’s driving those moments isn’t insight, communication, or willingness to change…

…it’s their nervous system going into survival mode.

When that happens, it doesn’t matter what skills you’ve taught them — they won’t be able to access any of it.

That’s where the Psychobiological Approach to Couple Therapy (PACT) changes everything!

Developed by Stan Tatkin, PsyD, MFT, PACT teaches you to track what’s actually happening in the room — in real time. Nervous system states. Survival strategies. The moment-to-moment interaction happening below the words.

That’s where relationship breakdown occurs – and it’s the only place real change can happen.

Join Dr. Stan Tatkin for this free two-day workshop and discover how to:

Track micro-shifts in face, voice, and body—so you catch escalation as it starts
Spot “can’t change” in real time (and stop mistaking it for resistance)
Intervene while the pattern is live—not after it’s already taken over
Turn sessions into structured, in-the-room experiences that create immediate change
Work the couple as a single system—so both partners shift, together

If you work with couples—or want to—this workshop will fundamentally change how you understand and treat relationship distress.

★ FREE 2-Day Workshop ★

Can’t attend live? Register anyway for 3-day free access!
NOTE: Your free all-access pass includes the immediate option to upgrade to the Live or Self-Study CE Packages.

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Register now and start working where change actually happens.

When couples come to therapy, it’s because they’re stuck — repeating the same fights, shutdowns, and escalations over and over again.

As the therapist, the pressure is on you to help them break that cycle.

But here’s the real challenge: what’s driving those moments isn’t insight, communication, or willingness to change…

…it’s their nervous system going into survival mode.

When that happens, it doesn’t matter what skills you’ve taught them — they won’t be able to access any of it.

That’s where the Psychobiological Approach to Couple Therapy (PACT) changes everything!

That’s where relationship breakdown occurs – and it’s the only place real change can happen.

Join Dr. Stan Tatkin for this free two-day workshop and discover how to:

Track micro-shifts in face, voice, and body—so you catch escalation as it starts
Spot “can’t change” in real time (and stop mistaking it for resistance)
Intervene while the pattern is live—not after it’s already taken over
Turn sessions into structured, in-the-room experiences that create immediate change
Work the couple as a single system—so both partners shift, together

If you work with couples—or want to—this workshop will fundamentally change how you understand and treat relationship distress.

Register now and start working where change actually happens.

FREE PACT 2-Day Workshop with Stan Tatkin

Name: FREE LIVE EVENT! | PACT 2-Day Workshop with Stan Tatkin: A Psychobiological Framework for Working with Couples
SKU: SUM096773
Availability: InStock

A Psychobiological Framework for Working with Couples

Live Virtual Training • September 23–24, 2026 • 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM CT

Earn up to 12 CE Hours

Can’t attend live? Register anyway for 3-day free access to the training!
NOTE: Your free all-access pass includes the immediate option to upgrade to the Live or Self-Study CE Packages.

About PACT (Psychobiological Approach to Couple Therapy)

PACT is a modern, science-based model that explains what actually drives relationship conflict: the brain, the body, and the interaction between two nervous systems in real time.

Instead of focusing on insight or communication alone, PACT helps you see how attachment patterns and stress responses shape behavior in the moment—when it matters most.

How is PACT different from other models of couple therapy?

The PACT model stands out from most other forms of couple therapy with these key features:

Using the PACT approach, both the therapist and the couple focus on moment-to-moment shifts in the face, body, and voice. Therapists help partners learn to be more attuned and respond to these subtle shifts in each other.
During a PACT session, the therapist creates experiences similar to those troubling a couple’s relationship, and they help partners work through issues in real time.
PACT tends to require fewer sessions than do other forms of couple therapy.
PACT sessions often exceed 50 minutes and may last as long as 3–6 hours. Longer sessions allow for PACT therapists to work more deeply with couples.
PACT therapists may videotape sessions to provide immediate feedback to couples and to help couples pay close attention to their partner’s nuanced behaviors as well as their own.

What Leading Voices and Clinicians Are Saying

“I highly recommend [Stan Tatkin’s work] to anyone who is ready for a secure-functioning relationship. Tatkin addresses the scientific, psychobiological, neurobiological, and intricate ways of the nervous system… in an utterly readable, practically applicable, wise, and entertaining way.”

— Alanis Morissette, artist, activist, and wholeness advocate

“Reading Stan Tatkin’s book makes you want to be in therapy with him… he takes you into the trenches of the combative human brain and shows you how to make love, not war.”

— Esther Perel, LMFT

“Invaluable for so many partners looking to reconnect and grow closer together.”

— Gwyneth Paltrow, actress and founder of goop

“Stan Tatkin is one of the world’s most brilliant couples therapists… not everyone can sit with him, but everyone can benefit from his wisdom.”

— Elise Loehnen, NYT bestselling author of On Our Best Behavior

“PACT offers a powerful framework… for understanding and working with two nervous systems interacting in real time.”

— PACT Institute clinician

“It’s not just a set of techniques—it’s a lived experience of secure functioning.”

— PACT-trained clinician

“I was feeling more confident, more spontaneous—and more playful in my work with couples.”

— PACT Certified Therapist

FREE PACT 2-Day Workshop with Stan Tatkin

A Psychobiological Framework for Working with Couples

Live Virtual Training • September 23–24, 2026 • 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM CT

Earn up to 12 CE Hours

Can’t attend live? Register anyway for 3-day free access to the training!
NOTE: Your free all-access pass includes the immediate option to upgrade to the Live or Self-Study CE Packages.

What You’ll Learn During This Free Workshop

September 23–24, 2026 • 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM CT each day

Day 1 — September 23, 2026

Why Couples Do What They Do

Survival-based nervous system responses in intimacy
Attachment strategies as adaptive responses
Developmental neuroscience and limits on adult regulation
Memory, state, and perceptual bias under stress
Why insight and skills fail without capacity

Adult Attachment in Real Time

Attachment as a signal–response system
Secure vs. insecure functioning as process
Collision of attachment strategies under stress
Behavioral patterns of pursuit, withdrawal, and escalation
Clinical implications for assessment and timing

Arousal Regulation in Couple Therapy

Hyperarousal, hypoarousal, and collapse
Window of tolerance at the individual and couple level
Stress-related developmental regression
Loss of executive functioning under threat
Clinical implications for timing and restraint

Secure Functioning as a Clinical Framework

Secure functioning as a two-person system
Mutuality, fairness, and shared purpose
Pro-self vs. pro-relationship behavior
Relationship design as prevention

Day 2 — September 24, 2026

The PACT Therapeutic Stance

The couple as the client
Therapist stance beyond neutrality
Therapist regulation as a system variable
Pressure, leverage, and timing
Avoiding common therapist errors

Reading Couple Interaction

Somatic and autonomic cues
Observable interaction patterns
Capacity vs. willingness under stress
Tracking escalation, withdrawal, and collapse
Therapist regulation and observational discipline

Conflict, Thirds, and Betrayal

Why couples repeat the same fights
Thirds that destabilize couple systems
Betrayal as attachment and arousal injury
Shame, collapse, and defensive responses
Conditions required for stabilization

From Understanding to Practice

Conceptual understanding vs. clinical capacity
Risks of partial or premature implementation
Indications, contraindications, and informed consent
What PACT training develops (without instruction)
Final synthesis and professional takeaways

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

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

Objectives

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

Target Audience

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

FREE PACT 2-Day Workshop with Stan Tatkin

A Psychobiological Framework for Working with Couples

Live Virtual Training • September 23–24, 2026 • 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM CT

Earn up to 12 CE Hours

Can’t attend live? Register anyway for 3-day free access to the training!
NOTE: Your free all-access pass includes the immediate option to upgrade to the Live or Self-Study CE Packages.

Meet Your Course Instructor

Stan Tatkin, PsyD, MFT is a clinician, researcher, teacher, and developer of the 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.

Dr. Tatkin is co-founder of the PACT Institute, where he trains therapists worldwide in applying neuroscience and attachment principles to couples work. He is the author of several bestselling books, including Wired for Love and We Do, and is widely recognized for advancing secure-functioning relationship models.

Click here for information about Stan Tatkin

FREE PACT 2-Day Workshop with Stan Tatkin

A Psychobiological Framework for Working with Couples

Live Virtual Training • September 23–24, 2026 • 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM CT

Earn up to 12 CE Hours

Can’t attend live? Register anyway for 3-day free access to the training!
NOTE: Your free all-access pass includes the immediate option to upgrade to the Live or Self-Study CE Packages.

Frequently Asked Questions

Just register above with your name and email, then click the "LIVE CE" button on the next page to upgrade to our Live CE credit package for just $99.99 (discounted from $249.99).

This course is the first step in the PACT certification process. To become PACT certified, you must successfully complete PACT Levels 1, 2, and 3 through the PACT Institute. You can learn more about PACT certification here.

We highly recommend that you update your Zoom application before the webinar. Zoom updates often and this can help avoid technical issues. To learn how to update your Zoom application, click here: Downloading the latest Zoom update – Zoom Help Center

We also recommend that for the best viewing experience, you use a laptop or desktop computer. You can join the webinar with an iPad, tablet, Chromebook, or web client; however, there are limited features with these. To see the comparison, click here: Desktop client, mobile app, web client, and PWA comparison – Zoom Help Center

Yes, anyone who registers will get 3 days access to watch the archived recording once it is made available.

Visit our FAQ page at www.pesi.com/faq or contact us at www.pesi.com/info.

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FREE PACT 2-Day Workshop with Stan Tatkin

A Psychobiological Framework for Working with Couples

Live Virtual Training • September 23–24, 2026 • 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM CT

Earn up to 12 CE Hours

Can’t attend live? Register anyway for 3-day free access to the training!
NOTE: Your free all-access pass includes the immediate option to upgrade to the Live or Self-Study CE Packages.

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