

The Couples Therapist Couch
Shane Birkel
This podcast is about the practice of Couples Therapy. Many of the episodes are interviews with leaders in the field of Relationships. The show is meant to help Therapists and Coaches learn how to help people to deepen their connection, but in the process it explores what is most needed for each of us to love, heal, and grow. Each week Shane Birkel interviews an expert in the field of Couples Therapy to explore all about the world of relationships and how to be an amazing therapist.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 17, 2021 • 47min
161: Healing After Divorce with Kristy Gaisford and Jerry Sander
Divorce is almost considered to be a bad word in Couples Therapy, but the reality is that there are still a lot of situations where this is the appropriate choice or where it happens to people whether they want it to or not. It is very important for us as therapists to be able to help people through this very difficult time. Kristy Gaisford and Jerry Sander focus specifically on helping people who are going through a divorce and have both been through a divorce themselves. For more information on Kristy and Jerry visit loveworkrelationships.com. The Couples Therapist Couch is the podcast for Couples Therapists about the practice of couples therapy. The host, Shane Birkel, interviews an expert in the field of couples therapy each week. Please subscribe to the podcast for more great episodes. Find out more about the Couples Therapist Inner Circle

Aug 25, 2021 • 45min
160: Feedback Informed Treatment and Couples with Beth Irias
Find out more about the Couples Therapist Inner Circle In the episode this week, Beth Irias from Clearly Clinical talks about feedback informed treatment with couples. She does an amazing job of explaining the importance of documentation and tracking outcomes. One of the things that resonated for me is how it all comes back to being able to serve our clients as effectively as possible by determining what is actually working in therapy. Find out more about Beth at clearlyclinical.com The Couples Therapist Couch is the podcast for Couples Therapists about the practice of couples therapy. The host, Shane Birkel, interviews an expert in the field of couples therapy each week. Please subscribe to the podcast for more great episodes. This episode is sponsored by Clearly Clinical Continuing Ed. Clearly Clinical is the nation's premier podcast Continuing Ed provider, and features industry experts from across the world. Clearly Clinical is an approved CE provider with the APA, ASWB, NBCC, NAADAC, CCAPP, and CAMFT, and is women-owned, founded by Elizabeth Irias, LMFT. Clearly Clinical supports minority and women presenters, and donates to Feeding America. And the best part? Clearly Clinical is literally the most affordable continuing ed provider in the country, bringing you unlimited CE courses for just $60 a year. As a promo for my listeners, you can use the code COUCH to get an additional 10% off. They have a number of free podcast CE courses, too, including a CE interview with Dr. Julie Gottman. Check those out at their website, ClearlyClinical.com. Find out more about the Couples Therapist Inner Circle

Aug 13, 2021 • 50min
159: Infidelity Recovery with Talal Alsaleem
Find out more about the Couples Therapist Inner Circle If you work with couples you know that a large percentage of the people seeking help have experienced some sort of infidelity in their relationship. As Couples Therapists, it is important that we know how to work with these couples and help them recover from the infidelity in a meaningful way. Dr. Talal Alsaleem is an expert at helping couples to do this. He also does training and supervision for other therapists to learn how to more effectively help couples who have been affected by infidelity. Learn more about Dr. Talal Alsaleem here. The Couples Therapist Couch is the podcast for Couples Therapists about the practice of couples therapy. The host, Shane Birkel, interviews an expert in the field of couples therapy each week. Please subscribe to the podcast for more great episodes. This episode is sponsored by Clearly Clinical Continuing Ed. Clearly Clinical is the nation's premier podcast Continuing Ed provider, and features industry experts from across the world. Clearly Clinical is an approved CE provider with the APA, ASWB, NBCC, NAADAC, CCAPP, and CAMFT, and is women-owned, founded by Elizabeth Irias, LMFT. Clearly Clinical supports minority and women presenters, and donates to Feeding America. And the best part? Clearly Clinical is literally the most affordable continuing ed provider in the country, bringing you unlimited CE courses for just $60 a year. As a promo for my listeners, you can use the code COUCH to get an additional 10% off. They have a number of free podcast CE courses, too, including a CE interview with Dr. Julie Gottman. Check those out at their website, ClearlyClinical.com.

Jul 20, 2021 • 44min
158: Being Bold in Couples Therapy with Pam Staples
Find out more about the Couples Therapist Inner Circle A lot of times, when couples work with therapists who don't have good couples therapy training, they feel like it is hard to make any progress. In this episode, Shane talks with certified Relational Life Therapist, Dr. Pam Staples about the importance of being direct and speaking the truth to couples with love and respect. Find out more about Dr. Pam Staples at myrelationallife.com The Couples Therapist Couch is the podcast for Couples Therapists about the practice of couples therapy. The host, Shane Birkel, interviews an expert in the field of couples therapy each week. Please subscribe to the podcast for more great episodes. This episode is sponsored by Clearly Clinical Continuing Ed. Clearly Clinical is the nation's premier podcast Continuing Ed provider, and features industry experts from across the world. Clearly Clinical is an approved CE provider with the APA, ASWB, NBCC, NAADAC, CCAPP, and CAMFT, and is women-owned, founded by Elizabeth Irias, LMFT. Clearly Clinical supports minority and women presenters, and donates to Feeding America. And the best part? Clearly Clinical is literally the most affordable continuing ed provider in the country, bringing you unlimited CE courses for just $60 a year. As a promo for my listeners, you can use the code COUCH to get an additional 10% off. They have a number of free podcast CE courses, too, including a CE interview with Dr. Julie Gottman. Check those out at their website, ClearlyClinical.com.

8 snips
Jun 22, 2021 • 52min
157: Internal Family Systems and Couples with Liz Phillips
In this conversation, therapist Liz Phillips, an expert in sensory motor therapy and Internal Family Systems (IFS), shares her journey into IFS therapy. She highlights the transformative power of self-compassion in healing relationships. Liz discusses how IFS helps couples understand their emotional responses and navigate their inner dynamics more effectively. With practical insights on fostering intimacy, she emphasizes the importance of recognizing protective roles within ourselves to enhance communication and develop healthier relationship patterns.

May 18, 2021 • 26min
156: Joining Through the Truth in RLT with Shane Birkel
Click here to learn more about the Couples Therapist Inner Circle In this episode, Shane talks about what makes Relational Life Therapy different from many other models of Couples Therapy. One of the ways we create change in RLT is by joining through the truth. In order to understand this in more depth, we have to understand the importance of acceptance of emotions and treating people with love, respect and warm regard, while at the same time taking on the bad behaviors that are ruining their relationships. The Couples Therapist Couch is the podcast for Couples Therapists about the practice of couples therapy. The host, Shane Birkel, interviews an expert in the field of couples therapy each week. Please subscribe to the podcast for more great episodes.

May 7, 2021 • 56min
155: Developmental and Relational Trauma with Rick Butts
Get your 3 free videos on Relational Life Therapy with Terry Real In this episode, Shane is joined by Dr. Rick Butts who is one of the founders of the Healing Our Core Issues Institute. This is based on the work of Pia Mellody and teaches therapists how to do Inner Child Work. He goes into detail about the 4 pillars of Healing Our Core Issues as well as discussing the 6 aspects of the nature of a child. Find out more about Dr. Rick Butts at drrickbutts.com Find out more about the Healing Our Core Issues Institute Click here if you are interested in doing the Relational Life Therapy Level One Training The Couples Therapist Couch is the podcast for Couples Therapists about the practice of couples therapy. The host, Shane Birkel, interviews an expert in the field of couples therapy each week. Please subscribe to the podcast for more great episodes.

Mar 30, 2021 • 50min
154: Elliott Connie on Solution Focused Brief Therapy and Couples
In this episode of the Couples Therapist Couch, Elliott Connie talks about using Solution Focused Brief Therapy when working with couples. He is an educator and author in the model of SFBT. Find out more about Elliott and Solution Focused Brief Therapy at elliottconnie.com. The Couples Therapist Couch is the podcast for Couples Therapists about the practice of couples therapy. The host, Shane Birkel, interviews an expert in the field of couples therapy each week. Please subscribe to the podcast for more great episodes. This episode is sponsored by Clearly Clinical Continuing Ed. Clearly Clinical is the nation's premier podcast Continuing Ed provider, and features industry experts from across the world. Clearly Clinical is an approved CE provider with the APA, ASWB, NBCC, NAADAC, CCAPP, and CAMFT, and is women-owned, founded by Elizabeth Irias, LMFT. Clearly Clinical supports minority and women presenters, and donates to Feeding America. And the best part? Clearly Clinical is literally the most affordable continuing ed provider in the country, bringing you unlimited CE courses for just $60 a year. As a promo for my listeners, you can use the code COUCH to get an additional 10% off. They have a number of free podcast CE courses, too, including a CE interview with Dr. Julie Gottman. Check those out at their website, ClearlyClinical.com. Find out more about the Couples Therapist Inner Circle

Mar 18, 2021 • 50min
153: Understanding Differentiation with Ellyn Bader
This episode is with Dr. Ellyn Bader, the founder of the Developmental Model of Couples Therapy. She has been teaching Couples Therapy since the 80s when everyone told her that no one would want that type of therapy. We talk all about Differentiation in this conversation which is about each partner expressing their own needs and wants and being able to listen to the other without judgement or defensiveness. Find out more about Ellyn at couplesinstitute.com Find out more about the Developmental Model at couplesinstitute.com/developmentalmodel The Couples Therapist Couch is the podcast for Couples Therapists about the practice of couples therapy. The host, Shane Birkel, interviews an expert in the field of couples therapy each week. Please subscribe to the podcast for more great episodes. This episode is sponsored by Clearly Clinical Continuing Ed. Clearly Clinical is the nation's premier podcast Continuing Ed provider, and features industry experts from across the world. Clearly Clinical is an approved CE provider with the APA, ASWB, NBCC, NAADAC, CCAPP, and CAMFT, and is women-owned, founded by Elizabeth Irias, LMFT. Clearly Clinical supports minority and women presenters, and donates to Feeding America. And the best part? Clearly Clinical is literally the most affordable continuing ed provider in the country, bringing you unlimited CE courses for just $60 a year. As a promo for my listeners, you can use the code COUCH to get an additional 10% off. They have a number of free podcast CE courses, too, including a CE interview with Dr. Julie Gottman. Check those out at their website, ClearlyClinical.com. Find out more about the Couples Therapist Inner Circle

Mar 2, 2021 • 49min
152: A Model is Only as Good as Its Applicability with Francesca Maxime'
Find out more about the Couples Therapist Inner Circle In this episode, Shane talks with Francesca Maxime' about the reality that no matter how well a therapist knows a model, doing their own person work is essential to improving as a therapist. Find out more about Francesca at: Course on Anti-racism at therapywisdom.com maximeclarity.com ReRooted Podcast on the Be Here Now Network The Couples Therapist Couch is the podcast for Couples Therapists about the practice of couples therapy. The host, Shane Birkel, interviews an expert in the field of couples therapy each week. Please subscribe to the podcast for more great episodes. This episode is sponsored by Clearly Clinical Continuing Ed. Clearly Clinical is the nation's premier podcast Continuing Ed provider, and features industry experts from across the world. Clearly Clinical is an approved CE provider with the APA, ASWB, NBCC, NAADAC, CCAPP, and CAMFT, and is women-owned, founded by Elizabeth Irias, LMFT. Clearly Clinical supports minority and women presenters, and donates to Feeding America. And the best part? Clearly Clinical is literally the most affordable continuing ed provider in the country, bringing you unlimited CE courses for just $60 a year. As a promo for my listeners, you can use the code COUCH to get an additional 10% off. They have a number of free podcast CE courses, too, including a CE interview with Dr. Julie Gottman. Check those out at their website, ClearlyClinical.com.