Transference and Countertransference in Couples Therapy
Working Skillfully with Involuntary Enactments in the Therapy Room
An EFT approach learning to deal with our own emotions when clients have spontaneous enactments with us
đź“… Date: Saturday, 15 August 2026
🕙 Time: 10:00am – 5:00pm
đź“Ť Location: Hurstwood Clinic, 16 Toorak Rd, South Yarra VIC 3141
About the Workshop
Even the most experienced couples therapists encounter moments where the therapy process becomes emotionally charged, confusing, or subtly derailed.
These are not mistakes.
They are spontaneous and involuntary enactments — powerful, often unconscious relational patterns that emerge between therapist and clients.
Handled poorly, they can:
- Reinforce client dynamics
- Create therapeutic impasses
- Lead to therapist self-doubt or over-involvement
Handled skillfully, they become:
- Doorways into deeper attachment processes
- Opportunities for corrective emotional experience
- Catalysts for profound relational change
What You Will Learn
This advanced workshop will help you:
- Recognise markers of transference and countertransference
- Identify involuntary enactments as they unfold in real time
- Understand your own emotional responses as clinical data
- Intervene without shaming, withdrawing, or over-correcting
- Transform enactments into attachment-based therapeutic leverage
- Maintain therapeutic presence under relational pressure
Clinical Focus
We will work at the intersection of:
- Psychoanalytic understanding of transference/countertransference
- Attachment theory
- Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
With direct application to:
- Alliance ruptures
- Therapist over-identification or distancing
- High-intensity emotional moments in session
Learning Format
This is a highly experiential training, including:
- Case-based teaching
- Working with a buddy on your own clinical countertransference responses
- Role plays to practice dealing with involuntary enactments
Who This Is For
- EFT therapists (all levels, especially intermediate–advanced)
- Psychologists, counsellors, psychotherapists
- Clinicians working with couples or relational dynamics
Outcomes
By the end of the day, you will be able to:
- Stay grounded during emotionally complex interactions
- Use countertransference as a precise clinical instrument
- Navigate enactments with confidence and clarity
- Deepen the therapeutic process without losing direction
Presenter
Dr Thomas Dellmann has a Doctorate in Counselling and has published five papers in peer reviewed journals.
He has been an ICEEFT certified EFT therapist since 2017 and supervisor since 2022 and runs a busy private practice. Thomas has given guest lectures at several universities, provided Masterclasses for couples counsellors and run EFT supervision groups.
He has special interest in self of therapist issues and how tov work with them.
Reserve Your Place
Spaces are limited to ensure depth of learning and interaction.
Investment
$280