Lisa Gray
 LMFT

Lisa Gray, LMFT is a couples therapist in private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area, specializing in high conflict couples and chronic illness/pain. After working as an Air Traffic Controller for 10 years, and serving as a Peer Debriefing counselor for fellow controllers, Lisa decided to go back to school to study counseling. She graduated from John F. Kennedy University in 2004 with a Master's degree in Clinical Counseling and has been working in the field ever since. Lisa is passionate about teaching couples to practice healthy conflict, so that their relationships can thrive and grow. Lisa reads over 100 books a year and reviews self-help books on her Instagram, Therapy Book Nook. She lives in the Bay Area with her family and 3 large dogs.

Working with High Conflict Couples
Saturday | May 4, 2024
9:45 am - 11:45 am
(2 CEs)

Workshop Description:

Working with high-conflict couples is a special skill that requires a therapist to be in charge of the session and be able to manage their own anxiety along with the emotions the couple is experiencing. Most therapists only had one couples’ class in graduate school, and even therapists who work with some couples have difficulty when the conflict gets explosive. Lisa Gray, author of “Healthy Conflict, Happy Couple: How to Let Go of Blame and Grow Stronger Together” will teach therapists what they need to know in order to be able to assist couples when conflict and emotions are high. In this workshop, therapists will learn how to confidently take charge of conflictual couples' sessions, provide psychoeducation to prepare the couple for learning a healthy conflict style, and provide tools to help the couple learn to self-regulate during conflict. Then, therapists will learn a step-by-step method to walk couples through conflicts in a calm and healthy manner. Lastly, therapists will learn how to highlight and amplify the good in relationships to offset the conflict, and ideas to address specific conflicts that many couples come to therapy for.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Identify your conflict style and those of your couples.
• List at least two techniques on how to manage your own bodily reactions and be able to teach the skill to your clients.
• Describe at least two elements of structure and pacing in a healthy relationship conflict.
• Name three ways to counteract conflict with positive interactions.

Return to conference speakers page