From Counsellor to Couples Counsellor

Course Details

From Counsellor to Couples Counsellor

A Blueprint for Developing a Couples Work Practice

Date: Tuesday, 24 November 2026
Time: 11:00 AM NZDT / 9:00 AM AEDT
Format: Live online via Zoom
Duration: 90 minutes
Structure: 60-minute presentation followed by 30 minutes of live Q&A
Recording: The session will be recorded. The replay will be available approximately 10 to 14 days after the live event.
ACA OPD: 5 Australian Counselling Association OPD Points, pending approval

About the Training

Many counsellors graduate with strong foundations in individual therapy but little exposure to the realities of working with couples.

This training is designed to give counsellors a clear blueprint for developing a couples work practice. Rather than teaching a single method or attempting to teach couples therapy skills in one session, Steven Dromgool will introduce the key areas of knowledge, clinical development and professional support that help counsellors move toward competent couples practice.

Participants will explore what changes when two people enter the room, including therapeutic alliances, confidentiality and secrecy, triangulation, competing goals, relationship patterns, assessment, safety and the limits of general counselling skills.

The session will also introduce the broader couples therapy landscape, including approaches such as Gottman, Emotionally Focused Therapy and Imago, and consider how developing counsellors can make thoughtful decisions about further training.

A central focus of the session is the difference between understanding couples therapy concepts and developing the ability to work with couples in practice.

Participants will leave with a clearer picture of what they need to learn, practise and develop if couples counselling is going to become part of their professional work.

What You Will Explore

Participants will be introduced to:

• what fundamentally changes when moving from individual to couples counselling
• the three relationships operating in the couples therapy room
• therapeutic alliances, neutrality, triangulation, secrets and confidentiality
• the importance of assessment, safety and suitability for conjoint work
• recognising relationship patterns rather than becoming absorbed in the content of the argument
• how major couples therapy approaches such as Gottman, EFT and Imago contribute different perspectives
• why conceptual knowledge alone does not create clinical competence
• the role of skills practice, feedback, supervision and professional community in becoming a couples counsellor
• how to build a deliberate professional development pathway into couples work
• Who This Training Is For

This session is particularly suited to counsellors who are newly qualified, early in their careers, building a private practice, or considering adding couples counselling to their existing work.

It is also relevant for individual counsellors who regularly encounter relationship distress and are wondering whether specialist couples work could become part of their future practice.

No previous couples therapy training is required.

About Steven Dromgool

Steven Dromgool is the founder and Clinical Director of Relate and has worked with couples for more than two decades. He has trained with leading relationship therapy educators including Harville Hendrix, John and Julie Gottman, Stan Tatkin, Ellyn Bader and Peter Pearson. Steven has worked across several major approaches to couples therapy and led the development of PORT, Presence Oriented Relationship Therapy, an integrated approach to relationship work. His clinical and teaching work focuses on helping therapists translate relationship theory into coherent, practical couples practice. Relate

The Purpose of This Training

The goal is not to make someone a couples counsellor in 90 minutes.

The goal is to answer a more important early-career question:

“If I want to become a couples counsellor, what do I actually need to develop?”

Participants should leave with a blueprint for the journey from general counselling into specialist couples work, including the knowledge, training, practice, supervision and professional community that support competent relationship therapy. 

Course Objectives:

• Describe at least three ways couples counselling differs from individual counselling, including the presence of multiple therapeutic alliances and the relationship as a focus of treatment.
• Identify common ethical and clinical considerations in couples work, including confidentiality, secrecy, triangulation, competing goals, safety and suitability for conjoint therapy.
• Differentiate among several major approaches to couples therapy, including Gottman Method, Emotionally Focused Therapy and Imago Relationship Therapy, by identifying their primary areas of focus.
• Explain the difference between conceptual knowledge of couples therapy and the development of clinical competence through observation, skills practice, feedback, supervision and experience.
• Develop a preliminary professional development plan for moving from general counselling into couples work, including areas for further training, skills development, supervision and professional support.