When: Friday, August 28, 2026 from 1:00-4:00 p.m.
Where: Online via Zoom (link will be sent 2 days before & at midnight prior to the event)
Cost: BVPA Members Free, Non-Members $80, TPA Members 10% discount at registration with TPA Member Number, Student Non-Members $10.
Program Description:
Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy (IBCT) is an evidence-based approach to couples therapy. It is rooted in behavioral couple therapy but has integrated the concept of emotional acceptance as a therapeutic target (in addition to the target of behavior change). IBCT was created by Dr. Andrew Christensen and Dr. Neil Jacobsen. Dr. Christensen is a clinical psychologist and distinguished research professor at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), while Dr. Jacobsen unfortunately passed away before seeing his work come to full fruition.
In IBCT, the therapist combines two types of interventions: those focusing on increasing mutual understanding, emotional intimacy and acceptance, and those focusing on altering negative interaction/communication patterns, resolving or ameliorating couple conflicts, and promoting positive behavior. We use a four session assessment phase, followed by an average of 12-20 sessions of intervention. The primary interventions are unified detachment and empathic joining, followed by more specific behavior change later in therapy if needed.
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The Assessment phase: during this phase, the therapist develops the formulation of one or two core issues and a plan for treatment using the DEEP analysis. The D-E-E-P is an acronym and describes how the couple’s issue is the result of Differences between the partners, Emotional sensitivities, External stressors, and Patterns of negative communication/interaction.
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The Feedback phase: during this phase, the therapist shares the DEEP formulation with the couple, outlines the active treatment phase, and secures a commitment from the couple to engage in that treatment phase.
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The Active Treatment phase: during this phase, the therapist applies acceptance-oriented strategies targeting Differences, Emotional sensitives, and External stressors and change oriented strategies targeting Patterns of communication and External Stressors (if they can be changed).
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The Termination phase: during this phase, the therapist may space sessions at longer intervals until the couple is confident they can continue on their own. This phase ends with a termination session that reviews the DEEP analysis, the progress the couple has made during treatment, and ways to handle inevitable slip-ups and back-sliding.
Learning Objectives:
1. An overview of IBCT
2. Begin to learn how to apply IBCT interventions straegies and techniques to couples therapy
3. Begin to develop the ability to assess couple's issues and develop a DEEP case formulation
4. Provide feedback to couples
5. Work consistently with the conceptualization during the treatment phase, using unified detachment and empathic joining.
About Our Speakers
Dr. Karen Hammack is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Charleston, SC. She obtained her Master’s degree from Columbia University, Teacher’s College in NYC, followed by her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology (emphasis in children and families) from the University of Mississippi in 2007. As part of her training, Dr. Hammack completed a child and family internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the Medical College of Georgia, before moving on to the VA healthcare system in 2009. During her time at the VA, she received extensive training in couples work, primarily Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy, and continues to serve as a national trainer and presenter for IBCT.
Dr. Brett Marroquin is a clinical psychologist in solo private practice at Arches Psychology Denver in Denver, Colorado. He received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Yale University, and completed internship at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a postdoctoral fellowship in health psychology at UCLA. His clinical work focuses on anxiety, anxiety disorders, and relationship issues, primarily with LGBTQ+ individuals and couples. A former Associate Professor of Psychological Science at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, his research focuses on the role of interpersonal emotion regulation in close relationships.
