Sibling Therapy: A Hidden Resource for MFTs
When: Friday, October 20, 2026
Time: 10:00am - 11:15am Eastern Time
Where: Online via Zoom
Presenter: Karen Gail Lewis, EdD, MSW
Cost: Free for NEAFAST members, $15 for non-members
CE: 1 Continuing Education Credit for LMFTs
Description
There are educational courses and programs for individual, group, family therapy, but there is nothing being taught about the importance of the sibling relationship and the impact of the early childhood relationship on adult behaviors, love relationships, work success. A theoretical framework will be shared for thinking about siblings as an important factor in working with individual, couple, and family clients. Participants will learn how early childhood relationships can be considered a laboratory, or “first marriage” for adult love relationships. The key concepts of frozen images, crystallized roles, unhealthy loyalty, and sibling transference will be discussed as a way to understand the sibling relationship as a resource.
Learning Objectives
As a result of this training participants will be able to:
- Recognize the importance of the childhood sibling relationship on adult clients' relationships.
- Identify the four key concepts for understanding the sibling resource for helping clients: frozen images, crystallized roles, unhealthy loyalty, and sibling transference.
- Assess if there is a sibling connection with individual and couple clients.
- Help clients recognize when there is a sibling connection to their presenting concerns.
Instructor
Karen Gail Lewis, EdD, MSW, marriage and family therapist for over 50 years, is author of numerous books and professional articles on siblings, marriage, gender communication, women's friendships, single women, and group therapy. She has taught in several MFT programs and has been on four MFT boards and a book review editor for two journals. Her newest book is Sibling Therapy: The Ghosts That Haunt Your Clients' Love and Work. She has presented nationally and internationally on these same topics, ran unique retreats for women and for siblings for 27 years, and has been interviewed extensively by all forms of media.
|
