RTC Couples Therapy Fellowship Overview

Fellowship Program Overview

Core Tasks of theFellowship

Fellowship 3-Year Timeline

Training Modalities

Previous Fellow Testimonials

Core Tasks of the Program

• Developing a specific and personalized structure for couples therapy, including an assessment process, cohesive theory, and personal repertoire of activities and interventions to use both in and out of session
• Learning how to identify and assess risk, and help couples experiencing commonly-presenting complaints and conflicts
• Recognizing your own triggers and enforcing your own boundaries within the therapy room, and engaging in continual self-care
• Understanding and practicing the non-clinical aspects of therapy such as documentation

Download the full document here:

Core Tasks of Becoming an Effective Couples Therapist at RTC

Fellowship 3-Year Timeline

Year 2

Year 1

First 6 Months:

Year 3

Trauma & Couples 101

First 6 Months:

Couples 101

Specialties

Year 2

Year 1

First 6 Months:

Second 6 Months:

Trauma & Couples 102

Couples 102

Click through each node to learn more about each of these phases!

Training Modalities

We believe that different couples methodologies and theories work for different personalities and different clients. While we will give you concrete theory and skills to become a competent couples therapist, we strongly encourage and coach all of our therapists to actively develop a couples therapy engagement style that works for their own particular set of values, temperament, and skills. Our model of training is influenced by the following principles:

Clinical Supervision

Self-of-the-Therapist Work

Feedback-Informed Treatment

Previous Fellow Testimonials

Let's hear from the people that have come before you!

Self-of-the-Therapist Work

Our self-of-the-therapist (SOT) discussions emphasize the importance of the therapeutic relationship in client outcomes, and encourages therapists to develop self-knowledge and self-awareness to become more effective clinicians. SOT to helps our Fellows acclimate to being couples therapists, as well as to help manage common therapeutic issues like countertransference, cultural competence, and therapist self-care.Meet our SOT Facilitation team here!

Year 2: First 6 Months

Trauma & Couples 101

• Weekly Trainings and Topic Tuesdays continue
• Weekly trainings become trauma focused - you will learn Pia Mellody's Post Induction Therapy model for treating attachment and family-of-origin wounds.
• Weekly Supervision continues
• Self-of-the-Therapist meetings become optional at this stage, though support will remain if needed
• Full Caseload
• Goal: 25 weekly client sessions

Year 1: Second 6 Months

Couples Therapy 102

• Weekly Trainings continue
• Weekly Self-of-the-Therapist connection continues

• Weekly Group/Individual Supervision continues
• Quarterly Topic Tuesday Trainings
• These are ongoing trainings with the whole RTC clinic, not just your fellow Fellows - often we will invite guest speakers or panels of experts to speak about specific topics in couples therapy
• Full Caseload
• Goal: 25 weekly client sessions

Feedback-Informed Treatment

Feedback-Informed Treatment (FIT) is an electronically delivered system which solicits feedback and tracks client outcomes in each therapy session. This real-time feedback allows therapists to course-correct and get ahead of any issues that might be impacting clients' success. FIT has been shown to increase outcomes of associate-level clinicians by up to 4 times. The accountability of FIT helps therapists ensure they are providing the highest level of care possible. We will train you in the use of FIT, and we strongly encourage all of our therapists to use it, even once their Fellowship is complete.

Year 1: First 6 Months

Couples Therapy 101

• 4-Week Intensive Training
• Employee onboarding & clinic orientation
• Couples therapy basics (first 6 sessions)
• PET-C Couples Training with Brent Atkinson

• Weekly training following intensive training
• Specialty topics - e.g. affairs, discernment counseling

• Weekly Supervision meetings
• Group & Individual (Dyad) format
• Weekly Self-of-the-Therapist meetings
• Meet 1-on-1 or in small groups
• Building Caseload
• 2-3 clients to start, with increased load each week
• Applying your skills along the way
• Goal: 20-25 weekly clients at the 6-month mark

Clinical Supervision

Supervision at RTC occurs in individual, dyadic, and small group formats and allows our Fellows to receive direct feedback on actual cases. We strongly encourage a culture of consultation at RTC, and regular supervisor support is critical to our therapists' success. Our supervision meets all MAMFT and AAMFT requirements. The State of Minnesota requires pre-licensed therapists to attend a certain number of supervision hours in order to apply for independent licensure. You will get all of your necessary hours through this Fellowship at no cost to you - which is a pretty good deal, considering that independent supervisors often charge between $100-$300/hour!

Year 3

Specialties & Next Career Steps

• Topic Tuesday trainings continue; Fellowship group trainings may become biweekly at this stage
• Supervision continues as needed
• Fellows at this stage often have a good sense of what types of issues they do and do not enjoy working with
• RTC provides a stipend for each Fellow to pursue individualized trainings according to their career interests. Examples of these may be EMDR certification, Gottman Method Level 1 certification, sex therapy certification, etc.
• Fellows receive information about career path options beyond the Fellowship
• Many Fellows become independently licensed by the end of this phase

Year 2: Second 6 Months

Trauma & Couples 102

• Weekly Trainings and Topic Tuesdays continue
• These weekly trainings are still trauma-focused.
• Weekly Supervision continues - depending on supervision needs, this may become biweekly or monthly
• Fellows at this stage are often beginning to study for or take their MFT/LPC National Exams
• RTC doesn't host formal study groups, but many of our resident therapists are more than happy to share study materials and resources!

• Full Caseload
• Goal: 25 weekly client sessions