RIAMFT Spring Seminar: Expert Couples Panel 2

Last Spring's Expert Couples Panel was so successful that we are bringing you round two! It will be the same format with different models!

This spring's seminar will provide participants with an overview of three different approaches to couples therapy: Imago, Gottman and ACT with couples. Participants will learn from an expert in each model. The seminar will finish off with a panel discussion and role play that will explore how each model may approach the same clinical presentation as well as how the various models may be integrated into overall couples treatment.

Participants will earn 6 CEUs. Box lunches from Jersey Mike's will be provided. As always, for our RIAMFT Clinical Members - just log in to receive your discounted ticket cost!

Our Panelists:

Paula Smith, Ph.D., MFT, M.Div.

Dr. Smith is an adjunct faculty member at Antioch University New England, Certified Imago Relationship therapist and Imago Workshop Presenter. She is a devoted social justice oriented Couple and Family Therapist. She has worked with individuals, couples, families and groups for 22 years. Dr. Smith is also the co-Founder of Imago Relationship Providence, a multifaceted practice that blends intensive clinical work, training for emerging therapists in anti-racism, Whiteness and cultural attunement, and research contextualizing attachment for diverse populations.

Susanna Guarino, LMHC is a therapist in private practice working with individuals and couples online and in person; she is licensed in NY, RI, FL and AZ. Susanna has completed advanced training in the Gottman Method: Levels 1-3, plus the certification track and all certification track requirements. She also has experience offering marathon therapy using the Gottman Method, which is intensive weekend therapy for couples taking place over one weekend from Friday to Sunday. Susanna's other specialties include helping clients with religious trauma or spiritual abuse backgrounds, and working with creatives. She lives in Rochester, NY.

Todd Schmenk, LMHC , is a counselor, writer, and speaker who works out of his private practice, AQAL Therapies, in the Providence area. He specializes in treating anxiety-related issues, chronic health conditions, and couples counseling. Since 2015, he has had extensive training with ACT, including working with Steven Hayes, Kelly Wilson, and Kirk Strosahl, the originators of the ACT approach. He is a member of the Association of Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS) and an ACT trainer candidate who regularly runs ACT consultation groups and supervision in the New England area. He is the Author of Team Positive: How to Build Support for Someone Coping with Chronic Illness, a self-help book that incorporates ACT concepts and skills for those diagnosed with an illness like cancer or Crohn’s disease and their families.

He lives in Warwick with his wife, and cat, and can often be found on the dance floor swing dancing, playing his violin and guitars at various locations, or in his woodshop refining his skills as a woodworker.