Professional Certificate in Relationship Therapy

COURSE DURATION: 5 Days
IACP APPROVED: Qualifies for 32 CPD points (to be confirmed)
PROGRAMME DIRECTOR: Karen Murphy MIACP
DELIVERY FORMAT: Online (via Zoom)
PARTICIPANT LIMIT: Maximum of 15 participants
CONTACT EMAIL: [email protected]

The Institute of Couples Therapy offers an integrative approach drawing on Gestalt relational approaches (including the Resnicks), the Developmental Model, Terry Real’s Relational Life Therapy, Salvador Minuchin’s Family Therapy, Murray Bowen’s Family System’s Theory and David Schnarch’s Differentiation Model. It is built on the four cornerstones of Relationship, Respect, Authenticity and Curiosity.

By the end of this programme, participants will be able to:

1. Conceptualise relationships using key theoretical models, including differentiation, systemic, vulnerability cycle and gestalt.
2. Assess couples effectively, using structured pre-therapy assessment, assessment tools, and ethical frameworks to inform clinical decision-making.
3. Facilitate relational change through evidence-based interventions, focusing on communication patterns, the vulnerability cycle, and the process model.
4. Work with a wide range of presenting issues, including affairs, sexual concerns, conflict, parenting challenges, and life-stage transitions.
5. Integrate family of origin and systemic factors into the therapeutic process.
6. Address diversity in relationships, including non-monogamous partnerships, LGBTQ+ couples, and intercultural considerations.
7. Manage challenging presentations, such as high conflict, trauma impact, and ethical complexities.
8. Structure therapeutic work across initial, ongoing, and individual sessions, maintaining a balance between containment and change.
9. Apply creative and flexible approaches (e.g., role play, enactments, experiential techniques) to deepen couple insight and resilience.
10. Engage in reflective practice, integrating personal awareness, use of self, and supervision into professional development.

Supplementary Learning (Pre-Recorded Webinars)

• Addiction in the Couple Dynamic
• Infertility and Loss in Couples Therapy
• Working with Affairs: Early Stage Interventions
• Cultural Diversity in Relationship Therapy
• Problematic Sexual Behaviours
• Guiding Couples Through Conflict with Confidence

To be eligible to attend this Professional Certificate in Relationship Therapy course, you must be a graduate of a psychotherapy or psychology training. You must be either accredited or pre-accredited by a recognised psychotherapy accrediting body, or alternatively, a member of the Psychological Society of Ireland.

KAREN MURPHY (She/Her)

Course Director, Lecturer

Karen founded the Institute of Couples Therapy driven by her passion and dedication to the field of relationship therapy. With over a decade of experience as a psychotherapist and an accredited supervisor, Karen is committed to helping couples find meaningful ways to overcome challenges and reconnect.
She holds a BA (Hons) in Person-Centred Humanistic Psychotherapy and has successfully run a private practice for over 10 years. Additionally, Karen has completed advanced training in EMDR, adolescent psychotherapy, and family constellations.
She works from a relational, experiential, and exploratory approach with couples strongly influenced by Gestalt principles, the Developmental Model, Relational Life Therapy, David Schnarch’s differentiation, and Salvador Minuchin’s family therapy.

MINH TRAN (She/Her)

IT and Training Manager

This programme provides a strong foundation and serves as a launching pad for your career in Relationship Therapy. However, it is not sufficient in isolation. Effective couples work requires ongoing professional development: continuous training, dedicated supervision, reflective practice, and sustained engagement with the literature.

Couples therapy is both demanding and deeply rewarding. To meet its challenges and maximise its rewards, you need to be consistently at the top of your professional practice.

We at the ICT are committed to making our training inclusive and equitable to all. We recognise that as human beings we have a tremendous amount in common and we also have a lot of rich diversity. This includes (and isn’t limited to) neurodiversity, gender, race, sexual, relationship, physical and religious. 

At the core of the work of the ICT is how we navigate differences in relationships. In order to recognise and accommodate diversity in the training environment and promote inclusivity and belonging we have committed to the following: 

1. Students will be respected and treated equally in the training irrespective of diversity including neurodiversity, gender, race, sexual, relationship, physical and religious. 
2. Application forms have been designed to be clear and concise.
3. Applications can be submitted in alternative formats such as phone, email or downloadable forms as well as online forms.
4. Extended timeframes for applications are possible due to processing needs or medical considerations.
5. Options are given for alternative forms of accessing information outside of physical reading such as audiobooks and YouTube videos. 
6. Pronouns are encouraged to be shared. Respect will also be given to not disclosing pronouns.
7. Clear instructions about the training are given in a comprehensive course handbook.
8. Accommodation will be given for students to take breaks, stand up, move around, use fidget toys or any other supports they need to help them get the most from the learning environment. 
9. Students can contact [email protected] to disclose any specific support or accommodation they might need. This will be kept confidential and used solely to facilitate accessibility. We encourage you to reach out, you will not be penalised in any way for doing this. We want to do our best to support you to have the best possible learning experience. 
10. Assessments will be designed to be clear and easy to understand. Flexibility will be given wherever possible to submit assessments using diverse formats. 
11. If there is anything you are concerned about we would hope that you can speak honestly to us. The [email protected] is personal to her and not a public email address. However if you are not comfortable to do this you can submit your concern anonymously by using this link.

Our commitment at the Institute of Couples Therapy is to continue to review and update the ways that we can ensure that our students all feel included, supported and that they belong.