Transformative Couples Therapy Certification Guidelines

Transformative Couples Therapy® was founded in 2008 by David Mars, Ph.D. and is solely affiliated with the Center of Transformative Therapy. (From 2009 to 2019 this method was called AEDP for Couples [AEDPfC]).

Steps in learning the Transformative Couples Therapy® method can be achieved through participation in couples training courses facilitated by David Mars, Ph.D.. See which of these listed below you may have attended after November 1, 2019.

This certification process culminates in demonstrating basic competency in using the Transformative Couples Therapy™ method through sharing video recorded sessions of sessions in Small Group Supervision, Individual Supervision or Core Training.

  • Core Training

  • Webinar series such as Movement webinar, Multi-channel webinar, etc.

  • Individual or Group Supervision

  • Workshops on Zoom

  • DVD/Streaming Video study

  • EA training group

You have the option of using the Transformative Couples Therapy® training Units Calculator on this page to document your hours of training since November 2019. As an alternative, you can simply list the TCT Courses you have taken since 2019 in an email.

Readiness for certification is shown by demonstrating competency in facilitating couples sessions using Transformative Couples Therapy® by sharing video during Core Training, or individual or group supervision. No specific number of training units is required to qualify for Transformative Couples Therapy™ Certification.

Fundamental Elements of Transformative Couples Therapy® include:

  1. From the first session help couples speak to each other in I-statements about what each wants with his or her partner.

  2. Move from wronging to longing, helping couple members move from what they don’t want to what they long for.

  3. Model capacity to skillfully and selectively perceive, receive and express using the Seven Channels of Experience.

  4. Help couples cultivate these capacities to perceive, receive and express their embodied experiences from couple member to couple member and build this practice throughout treatment sessions.

  5. Evoke, amplify and make explicit the felt experience of love.

  6. Use process language to shift patterns of blame and shame into level and self-responsible communication. Link to Process Language Description

  7. Prioritize the core affects of joy and surprise to expand embodied relational experiences of hope.

  8. Conduct healing portrayals such as Reunion, Redo/Repair, Rescue, Anger and/or Rage.

  9. Help anger to be expressed in ways that are deeply received and taken in as deeper understanding and clarification of boundaries.

  10. The newly developed TCT Fidelity Scales, created for the TCT Research Project, give many details and examples of the TCT method in clinical practice. This guide is available from your supervisor upon request.

    Transformative Couples Therapy® Certification Process

1.) Receiving supervision of your clinical video from a TCT supervisor in individual, small group and/or Core Training.

2.) A letter or email from your supervisor indicating that the body of your work shows competency in the method of Transformative Couples Therapy®.

3.) In consultation with your supervisor, select two video recorded sessions to submit for certification: one from the first three treatment sessions and one from a mid to late treatment session. The videos can be from the same couple or two different couples.

4.) THE CERTIFICATION PACKET needs to include:

  1. Two video recordings (described above) sent via email link, such as via Hightail.com, DropBox or G Drive via Gmail, which is encrypted and password protected .

  2. The video recording should incorporate subtitles or captions that briefly name the TCT principles or interventions and the specific channels of experience you are tracking that inform your clinical interventions.

  3. Also include any reflections of what you could have done differently to deepen, heighten, affectively regulate and ensure safety with either couple member in both sessions.

  4. Each video clip must be between 25 and 35 minutes in length with a maximum of three edits.

  5. Submit your certification materials to David Mars to initiate the review process. The fee for Transformative Couples Therapy® Certification review is $200 U.S.