Last Chance Couple Therapy: Bringing Relationships Back from the Brink with Peter Fraenkel, PhD
Come join Peter Fraenkel, PhD, for a weekend workshop!
Therapy with couples on the brink of relationship dissolution involves special challenges. These couples present with high levels of disdain, low motivation, and hopelessness. One or both partners may be highly ambivalent about engaging in therapy and may be reluctant to try new and more positive interaction styles for fear that progress may trap them in the relationship. Social and personal justice issues around power often play a role in the couple’s distress. This presentation will provide a science-based integrative approach to working with last chance couples. A taxonomy of five types of last chance couples will be described: High conflict couples; those in which there has been a value or safety violation (interpersonal violence, infidelity, substance overuse); couples where partners have mismatched personal timelines/life goals; couples with little to no passionate connection; and couples in which a partner feels the need to pursue further psychosocial and sexual development outside the relationship. Research-supported techniques for establishing a therapeutic alliance and contract will be described. Clinical vignettes will illustrate effective techniques drawn from a multi-perspectival approach to couple therapy (the Therapeutic Palette Integrative Couple Therapy and the Creative Relational Movement Approach to Change) that integrates systemic, cognitive-behavioral, structural, intergenerational, attachment, experiential, psychodynamic, narrative, neuroscience, feminist, multicultural, and existential perspectives and practices. A Buddhist/Mindfulness approach to communication will be presented, as well techniques for increasing passion and pleasure.
Peter Fraenkel, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Psychology at The City College of New York; former faculty at the Ackerman Institute for the Family and NYU Medical Center; and is in private practice in New York City. He is the author of Last Chance Couple Therapy: Bringing Relationships Back from the Brink (2023, Norton); Sync Your Relationship, Save Your Marriage: Four Steps to Getting Back on Track (2011, Palgrave-Macmillan); co-author of The Relational Trauma of Incest: A Family-Based Approach to Treatment (2001, Guilford), and author of numerous articles and chapters. Dr. Fraenkel lectures and conducts therapist training internationally. He received the American Family Therapy Academy’s 2012 award for Innovative Contribution to Family Therapy. He is a former Vice President and current Board Member of AFTA, a Board member of the Minuchin Center for the Family, and a reviewer for several family therapy journals. Peter is also a professional drummer and percussionist and has performed and recorded worldwide.
About the Conference
This year, the AFTNC conference will be held at Westerbeke Ranch in Sonoma. For more information about the 2025 AFTNC Conference, please email drkeith@drkeithsutton.com.
Students - As with each conference, we encourage students to join, and schedule a lunch with students and the presenters.
When: Saturday, October 4th (9am-4:30pm) and Sunday, October 5th, 2025 (9am-3pm)
Where:
In Person: Westerbeke Ranch in Sonoma
Schedule:
|
Saturday, October 4th |
| 8:30am-9am |
Registration |
| 9am-9:30am |
Techniques as the Bridge to Relational Values |
| 9:30am-10:45am |
Five Last Chance Couple Patterns or Scenarios: Eleven Foci of Working with Last Chance Couples |
| 10:45am-11am |
Break |
| 11am-11:45am |
Key Findings on Predictors of the Therapeutic Alliance inCouple Therapy -- Building the Therapeutic Alliance Part 1: The Creative Relational Movement Approach to Change |
| 11:45am-12:30pm |
Building the Therapeutic Alliance Part 2: Creating a Micro Level Contract |
| 12:30pm-1:30pm |
Lunch with Students |
| 1:30pm-2:30pm |
Break |
| 2:30pm-3:30pm |
Video Demonstration of First Session |
| 3:30pm-4:30pm |
Discussion and Wrap Up of Day 1 |
|
Sunday, October 5th |
| 8:30am-9am |
Registration |
| 9am-10:00am |
Beginning Anew: A Mindfulness-Based Approach to Communication |
| 10am-10:30am |
Metaphors for Embracing Silence and Inaction in Potential Conflict |
| 10:30am-10:45am |
Break |
| 10:45am-12pm |
Identifying the Core Unconscious Temporal-Emotional-Physiological-Relational Contract: The Marital Quid Pro Quo Revisited |
| 12pm-1pm |
Lunch |
| 1pm-2pm |
Live Consultation |
| 2pm-2:30pm |
Discussion of Live Consultation |
| 2:30pm-3pm |
Activating and Rhythmizing Pleasure
|
Please email drkeith@drkeithsutton.com to be added to the waiting list for any specific option below that is listed as “filled” on the registration page.
Conference Costs & Lodging Options:
2 Nights - (Fri & Sat) - Conference both days with Lodging and Meals:
- $750 member rate ($800 after 9/4)
- $850 non-member rate ($900 after 9/4)
- $350 student member rate ($375 after 9/4)
- $400 student non-member rate ($425 after 9/4)
1 Night - (Sat) - Conference both days with Lodging and Meals:
- $550 member rate ($600 after 9/4)
- $650 non-member rate ($700 after 9/4)
- $250 student member rate ($275 after 9/4)
- $300 student non-member rate ($325 after 9/4)
2 Days In Person - Conference and Lunch Only (NO LODGING):
- $350 member rate ($375 after 9/4)
- $450 non-member rate ($475 after 9/4)
- $150 student member rate ($175 after 9/4)
- $200 student non-member rate ($225 after 9/4)
1 Day In Person - Conference and Lunch Only (NO LODGING):
- $175 member rate ($195 after 9/4)
- $225 non-member rate ($245 after 9/4)
- $90 student member rate ($110 after 9/4)
- $115 student non-member rate ($135 after 9/4)
Continuing Education Credits - pending
GROUP RATE - 10% Discount for Groups of 4 or More (email drkeith@drkeithsutton.com for group registration)
Above costs include: Overnight charges include shared cabins with baths, daily use fees at Westerbake Ranch, dinners for the nights you stay over, Saturday and Sunday breakfasts, and lunches. All gourmet meals are provided by the Westerbake’s amazing chefs. Overnight attendees are welcome to the facilities use of the pool, hiking trails, hot tub, and massages (addtional rates apply for massages). Rooms are shared, so if you have a roommate preference for the two or three occupancy cabin, please email drkeith@drkeithsutton.com. Day-only rates include daily use fees and lunches. No dinner is provided on Saturday or Sunday.
*Conference is limited to 24 overnight guests and 40 total participants.*
**Scholarships and Work Study are available for those with financial needs**