Part 1: CBCT Training

Cognitive-behavioral couple therapy (CBCT) is a highly efficacious approach for assisting couples with relationship distress and in which a partner is experiencing a psychiatric disorder.

Audience
Psychotherapists serving couples with relationship distress or psychiatric disorders.
Access This Course

Course Curriculum

    1. CBCT Course Resource Files

    1. Module 1a: Introduction and Model of Couple Functioning

    2. Lesson 1b: Introduction and Model of Couple Functioning

    3. Test: Introduction and Model of Couple Functioning

    1. Lesson 1: Individual Factors

    2. Lesson 2: Couple Factors

    3. Lesson 3: Environmental Factors

    4. Test: The Individual, the Couple, and the Environment

    1. Lesson 1: A Cognitive-Behavioral Couple Therapy Framework

    2. Test: A Cognitive-Behavioral Couple Therapy Framework

    1. Lesson 1: Overview: Positive and Negative Behaviors

    2. Lesson 2: Behavioral Interventions Overview

    3. Lesson 3: Guided Behavior Change Intervention

    4. Case Introduction: Jason and Aman Withdraw-Withdraw Interaction

    5. Roleplay: Guided Behavior Change Withdraw-Withdraw Interaction

    6. Test: Module 4: Behavioral Factors and Interventions in Intimate Relationships: Part I

    1. Lesson 1: Communication: Importance of and Skills Training

    2. Lesson 2: Sharing Thoughts and Feelings Communication Skill

    3. Lesson 3: Sharing Thoughts and Feelings Roleplay (with Case Introduction Kristi and Chuck Demand-Withdraw Interaction)

    4. Roleplay: Sharing Thoughts and Feelings Guidelines Demand-Withdraw Interaction Part 1

    5. Roleplay: Sharing Thoughts and Feelings Guidelines Demand-Withdraw Interaction Part 2

    6. Lesson 4: Decision-Making Communication Skills

    7. Lesson 5: Decision-Making Roleplay (with Case Introduction Mark and Shelley Demand-Demand Interaction)

    8. Roleplay Decision-Making Demand-Demand Interaction

    9. Lesson 6: Adapting to Specific Couples

    10. Test: Module 5: Behavioral Factors and Interventions in Intimate Relationships: Part II
  • Free
  • 50 lessons
  • 8.5 hours of video content
  • Certification of Completion

CE Approval Statement

CE Approval Statement American Psychological Association (APA) The National Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders (NCEED) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. NCEED maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Learning Objectives

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

    Explain how behaviors, cognitions, and emotions are interrelated within and between partners in a reciprocal manner.

    Describe how the needs of both individual partners, their functioning as a couple unit, and their environment interact with each other and are considered in treatment.

    Describe two sets of communication skills (sharing thoughts and feelings and decision-making) and how these communication skills can be used in the treatment of relationship distress.

    Identify common behavioral, cognitive, and emotionally focused interventions employed in CBCT.

Course Overview

  • Cognitive-behavioral couple therapy (CBCT) is a highly efficacious approach for assisting couples with relationship distress and in which a partner is experiencing a psychiatric disorder. For almost five decades, Dr. Baucom and others have developed the theory, refined its clinical application, and led ongoing research into CBCT and basic relationship processes evolving from this model. This training discusses CBCT principles, mechanisms, and interventions, including: (a) the interrelatedness and reciprocal nature of behaviors, cognitions, and emotions between partners; (b) how healthy relationships balance the needs of both partners as individuals, the couple as a unique unit, and their interaction with their environment; and (c) how to assess the couple and employ cognitive-behavioral interventions based on evidence-based principles (rather than based on manualized steps) to assist their relationship. Given the centrality of communication within couples’ relationships and relationship distress, significant emphasis is given to communication skills training as an important relationship behavior, including both (a) sharing thoughts and feelings and (b) decision-making.

    This course material is consistent with the following references, which provide more detailed information about conducting CBCT. Baucom et al. (2020) is a CBCT treatment manual that provides a detailed explanation of treating relationship distress as well as addressing psychopathology in a couple context. Baucom et al. (2023) provides an overview of these topics in a single chapter.

    Baucom, D. H., Fischer, M. S., Corrie, S., Worrell, M., & Boeding, S. E. (2020). Treating relationship distress and psychopathology in couples: A cognitive-behavioural approach. Abingdon, England: Routledge. Baucom, D.H., Epstein, N. B., Fischer, M. S., Kirby, J. S., & LaTaillade, J. J. (2023). Cognitive-behavioral couple therapy. In J. Lebow, & D. K. Snyder (Eds.), Clinical handbook of couple therapy (6th ed., pp. 53-78). New York: Guilford.

    NOTE: The CBCT Therapist Training is a prerequisite for the UNITE Couple-Based Treatment for Eating Disorders Therapist Training that is also available on the NCEED Training page.

Instructors

Cynthia Bulik, PhD, FAED

Distinguished Professor of Eating Disorders
Department of Psychiatry, UNC School of Medicine
Professor of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health
Professor, Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Dr. Bulik, a licensed clinical psychologist, received her BA from the University of Notre Dame and her MA and PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. She completed internships and post-doctoral fellowships at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh, PA. Dr. Bulik has developed eating disorders programs in New Zealand, the United States, and Sweden and has active collaborations all over the world. She is author of several books including Crave: Why You Binge Eat and How to Stop, The Woman in the Mirror, Midlife Eating Disorders: Your Journey to Recovery, and Binge Control: A Compact Recovery Guide. She has developed, tested, and disseminated several evidence-based treatments for eating disorders and has trained clinicians around the world in providing evidence-based care. She has been the recipient of many awards for research, advocacy, and mentorship.

Disclosure: Dr. Bulik reports: Shire (past grant recipient, past Scientific Advisory Board member); Lundbeckfonden (grant recipient); Pearson (author, royalty recipient); Equip Health Inc. (Stakeholder Advisory Board).

Don Baucom, Ph.D.

Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
UNC-Chapel Hill

Dr. Don Baucom received his BA and PhD in Clinical Psychology from UNC-Chapel Hill and completed his predoctoral clinical internship at the University of Minnesota Medical Center. A licensed clinical psychologist in North Carolina, he directs a couple therapy clinic at UNC and sees couples clinically himself. He is one of the developers of cognitive-behavioral couple therapy (CBCT) which has strong empirical support for improving relationship distress. For many decades, he has contributed to the theoretical, clinical, and empirical bases for these interventions, adapting them to address a wide range of circumstances that couples confront. A major emphasis in expanding these interventions involves how to employ the couple as a resource in therapy when one partner is struggling with psychological or medical distress. He is the co-author of several books that serve as fundamental references for applying CBCT in various contexts. He provides workshops to clinicians around the world, teaching them to apply these interventions in applied clinical settings. He has received numerous awards and recognitions for his research contributions, mentorship of doctoral students, undergraduate teaching, and clinical supervision.

Disclosure: Dr. Baucom has no conflicts of interest to report.


Jennifer Kirby, Ph.D.

Clinical Professor and Director of Clinic Operations and Training
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry
UNC-Chapel Hill

Dr. Jennifer S. Kirby received her MA and PhD in Clinical Psychology from UNC-Chapel Hill and completed her predoctoral clinical internship at Duke University Medical Center. A licensed clinical psychologist in North Carolina, she serves as the Director of Clinic Operations and Training for the UNC-Chapel Hill Psychology Clinic. She specializes in cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy, and trains and supervises graduate students, psychiatric residents, and professionals in individual and couple therapy using these treatment approaches. She has participated in the development and evaluation of a number of relationship intervention programs from a cognitive-behavioral perspective. These have included working with couples who are experiencing eating disorders, emotion dysregulation, infidelity, health concerns such as breast cancer, and couples who are preparing for marriage. She also maintains an active private practice with individuals and couples.

Disclosure: Dr. Kirby has no conflicts of interest to report.