Professional Training & Clinical Development

Trauma-Informed Therapy, Couples Therapy & Relational Healing

I am committed to ongoing professional development and evidence-based continuing education to provide grounded, ethical, and research-informed care.

My training focuses on understanding relational and attachment patterns, emotional safety, and accountability in therapy while supporting meaningful and sustainable change for individuals and couples navigating trauma, betrayal, and complex relationships.

My clinical approach emphasizes how people develop patterns of protection, connection, and survival within relationships, and how those patterns can be understood and shifted over time.

Clinical Foundations & Core Therapeutic Modalities

My foundational training includes evidence-based approaches to trauma, attachment, and relational healing:

  • Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) – attachment-based couples therapy focused on emotional bonding and repair

  • Gottman Method Couples Therapy (Levels 1 & 2) – research-based interventions for relationship stability, conflict repair, and trust rebuilding

  • Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) – trauma processing and nervous system regulation

  • Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) – structured treatment for trauma-related beliefs and cognitive patterns

  • Attachment-Based Therapy – understanding relational development and attachment injury

  • Family Systems Therapy – exploring relational roles, patterns, and intergenerational dynamics

  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) – addressing cognitive distortions related to anxiety and depression

  • Internal Family Systems (IFS-informed approach) – understanding internal protective and relational parts

Advanced Couples Therapy & Relationship Repair Training

My advanced couples training focuses on high-conflict relationships, betrayal trauma, and complex relational and trauma-related dynamics:

Gottman Method Treating Affairs & Trauma – repair after infidelity and relational injury, with a focus on rebuilding trust and connection after betrayal

Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) – advanced training in attachment injury repair and emotional reconnection in distressed relationships

Cognitive Behavioral Conjoint Therapy for PTSD (CBCT) – evidence-based couples treatment for PTSD within relationships, addressing trauma symptoms in the context of the relationship

Terry Real – relational accountability and couples work focused on attachment dynamics, conflict cycles, and emotional responsibility in relationships

“Treating the Untreatable” (Terry Real) – working with entrenched relational patterns including high-conflict, defensive, and emotionally rigid dynamics

Breakthrough Results with Difficult Relational Patterns – working with avoidance, emotional shutdown, defensiveness, and control-based interaction cycles

PACT-informed interventions (Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy) – nervous system-informed approaches to safety, connection, and relational regulation

Integrative Couples & Sex Therapy Training (CSTIP-informed experiential learning) – intimacy, attachment, desire differences, sexual disconnection, and relational repair

Trauma, Attachment & Complex Clinical Presentations

My trauma training includes work with complex, layered emotional and relational experiences across the lifespan:

  • Complex Trauma Certification Training (Levels 1 & 2) – Janina Fisher

  • Certified Narcissistic Abuse Treatment Clinician training – Ramani Durvasula

  • Lindsay Gibson training – Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents and Relational Boundaries

  • Grief and Trauma Integration training – David Kessler

  • Shame-Informed Treatment Specialist training – addressing internalized shame and self-concept disruption

  • Attachment Theory in Practice – Sue Johnson (EdD)

  • EFIT (Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy) Level 1 – attachment-focused individual therapy work

Sexuality, Intimacy & Relational Connection Training

My work with couples also includes training in intimacy, sexual connection, and relational embodiment:

  • Integrative Couples & Sex Therapy (CSTIP-informed experiential training)

  • The Science of Sex in Long-Term Relationships – Emily Nagoski, PhD

  • Sex, desire, and attachment dynamics in long-term relationships

  • Working with differences in sexual desire, emotional closeness, and relational safety

  • Trauma-informed approaches to intimacy, shame, and relational repair

This work is grounded in a relational and attachment-based framework, supporting couples in understanding not only sexual dynamics, but the emotional and relational meaning behind them.

Upcoming & In-Progress Continuing Education

I continue to engage in advanced training to stay current with emerging research and clinical approaches. The following trainings are currently planned or in progress:

  • Healing Betrayal Trauma & Grief (Gottman Institute + David Kessler)

  • Narcissistic Abuse Treatment for Clinicians (Amy Marlow-MaCoy, LPC)

  • Advanced attachment-focused therapy training

  • Ongoing couples therapy development in EFT, Gottman, and relational trauma models

  • Continuing education in trauma integration, nervous system regulation, and relational repair

Clinical Approach

Across all training areas, my clinical approach is grounded in the belief that:

People do not develop patterns randomly.

They develop adaptive ways of surviving relationships, stress, and emotional experiences, and those same patterns often become the very things that create distance, conflict, or disconnection later in life.

Therapy is about understanding patterns in context, increasing emotional safety, and creating space for new ways of relating to self and others.

How This Training Shows Up in My Work

  • Trauma, PTSD, and Complex PTSD

  • Betrayal and Affair Recovery

  • Attachment Injuries and Emotional Disconnection

  • Relationship Trauma and Couples Therapy for High-Conflict Dynamics

  • Family Estrangement and Long-Term Relational Rupture

  • Narcissistic Abuse and Emotionally Abusive Relationship Dynamics

  • Anxiety, Depression, and Emotional Overwhelm

  • Emotional Regulation Difficulties and Nervous System Dysregulation

  • Intimacy, Sexual Connection, and Desire Differences

Schedule a Consultation

If you’re considering therapy, a brief consultation can help you get a sense of whether working together feels like a good fit.

It’s a space to talk about what’s bringing you in, what you’re hoping for, and whether my approach feels aligned with what you need right now.

You’re welcome to schedule a free consultation at a time that works for you. If you don’t see a time that fits or you have questions before booking, you can reach me at tsavener@seekthesun.net.

Schedule A Consultation