Bart and Susan: Consultation with Debbie Campbell, LMFT

A NOTE FROM JASON:

Hello!  So we are beginning to wrap up our time with the first couple of the season, Bart and Susan.  What you are about to hear is a consultation interview with my level 3 PACT colleague, Debbie Campbell out of Dallas Texas.  

I don’t know if I’ve ever read a list of a persons background that better describes their clinical style and approach than Debbie’s.  She a student and practitioner of sport psychology, positive psychology, couples counseling, psychodrama, and neuroscience.  You’ll hear it in her, she’s like a performance athlete, personal trainer, PACT expert and brain nerd with real warmth and compassion all in one package.  

I came to Debbie with a big question:  How does a couples therapist learn to use the patterns of arousal regulation and understanding of developmental neuroscience to create safer and more secure relationships?  If that just sounds like confusing jargon, well you are in the right place to make it all a whole lot more clear.  

One note, in listening back to the interview, we talk a great deal about pacing.  How fast or slow should a therapist go in couples therapy.  I think what we are really talking about but don’t name directly is pressure- so we also focus on -  How does a couples therapist know how much pressure to apply to bring about change in a couple?  The answer to this has lots to do with arousal and neuroscience and attachment.  So, hold onto your hat, it's an action packed episode that  I hope you enjoy!  JB

ABOUT SEASON 2 of HUMAN NURTURE:

Hosted by Jason Brand, LCSW a practicing couples therapist in Berkeley, California.  

In Season 2 of Human Nurture we will cover PACT in Training.  PACT stands for a Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy and has a reputation for effectively helping the most challenging situations that come up between couples.  

This season, we will answer the question, "How does a couples therapist learn to help with THAT?!?"  

"THAT?!?" could be any challenge that a couple brings into counseling-- from infidelity, to arguments about money, to processing past trauma, to decisions about the health and well being of a child. 

This season gives an insider's view to the world of couples therapy through interviews with actual couples and consultation interviews with other expert PACT therapists.  If you are a couples therapist looking to sharpen your skills, or if you are just curious about how couples therapists learn to do their job, tune into this season of Human Nurture.