This live event takes place Sunday, December 13, 3 pm-4 pm EST (12 pm-1 pm PST).
Therapists frequently offer tools, exercises, or between-session practices to support therapeutic progress. However, when these interventions are implicitly framed as tasks that must be completed successfully, clients may experience increased shame, self-criticism, or relational blame when they struggle to implement them. This one-hour course introduces an experimental framework for offering therapeutic tools, reframing interventions as opportunities for shared learning rather than performance-based assignments. Drawing from research on curiosity, compassion-focused therapy, and attachment-informed practice, participants will explore how framing interventions as experiments can reduce shame, increase client engagement, and prevent blame dynamics—particularly in couples therapy. Clinicians will learn practical language shifts and conceptual strategies for presenting tools in ways that encourage curiosity, openness, and collaborative exploration.
This live webinar is designed for counselors, marriage and family therapists, psychologists, social workers, and other behavioral health professionals who incorporate therapeutic tools, exercises, or between-session interventions into clinical practice.
The purpose of this course is to enhance learners' understanding of how performance-based therapeutic interventions can contribute to shame and blame and strengthen their ability to frame interventions as collaborative experiments that promote curiosity, client engagement, honest feedback, and positive therapeutic outcomes.
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
- Identify ways in which traditional homework or tool-based interventions may inadvertently increase shame or blame in therapy.
- Describe how curiosity-based framing can enhance client engagement and openness to therapeutic interventions.
- Explain how presenting tools as experiments can reduce performance pressure and increase honest feedback from clients.
- Apply language that frames therapeutic tools as collaborative experiments rather than compliance-based assignments.
- Recognize how the experimental framework can interrupt negative relational dynamics in couples therapy.
Michal Goldman, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker specializing in relational therapy and therapist development. She is passionate about helping clinicians cultivate secure, ethical boundaries and deepen their self-of-therapist awareness to enhance their work with couples. Michal holds extensive training in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and discernment counseling, with a focus on supporting couples through relational challenges. In addition to her clinical work, she writes a biweekly mental health column for a local newspaper, where she shares insights on relational health and ethical practice. Her teaching emphasizes compassionate care, cultural humility, and clinically sound decision-making in complex therapeutic settings.
Contributing faculty, Michal Goldman, LCSW, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Kimberly Byrd, EdD, PMSW
Scott Deatherage, PhD
The division planners have disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Sarah Campbell
The Director of Development and Academic Affairs has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
The purpose of NetCE is to provide challenging curricula to assist healthcare professionals to raise their levels of expertise while fulfilling their continuing education requirements, thereby improving the quality of healthcare.
Our contributing faculty members have taken care to ensure that the information and recommendations are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents. Participants are cautioned about the potential risk of using limited knowledge when integrating new techniques into practice.
It is the policy of NetCE not to accept commercial support. Furthermore, commercial interests are prohibited from distributing or providing access to this activity to learners.
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The role of implicit biases on healthcare outcomes has become a concern, as there is some evidence that implicit biases contribute to health disparities, professionals' attitudes toward and interactions with patients, quality of care, diagnoses, and treatment decisions. This may produce differences in help-seeking, diagnoses, and ultimately treatments and interventions. Implicit biases may also unwittingly produce professional behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that reduce patients' trust and comfort with their provider, leading to earlier termination of visits and/or reduced adherence and follow-up. Disadvantaged groups are marginalized in the healthcare system and vulnerable on multiple levels; health professionals' implicit biases can further exacerbate these existing disadvantages.
Interventions or strategies designed to reduce implicit bias may be categorized as change-based or control-based. Change-based interventions focus on reducing or changing cognitive associations underlying implicit biases. These interventions might include challenging stereotypes. Conversely, control-based interventions involve reducing the effects of the implicit bias on the individual's behaviors. These strategies include increasing awareness of biased thoughts and responses. The two types of interventions are not mutually exclusive and may be used synergistically.
#9675L: From Homework to Hypothesis: Reducing Shame and Blame in Couples Therapy
Therapists commonly provide clients with tools or between-session practices intended to support therapeutic growth. These interventions can be valuable in helping clients translate insight into meaningful change. However, the way tools are framed within therapy may influence how clients experience and engage with them. When interventions are presented in ways that emphasize success or failure, clients may become more self-critical or hesitant to share difficulties with implementation.
Research suggests that emotions such as shame can limit openness and willingness to explore personal experiences, while curiosity-based approaches can increase engagement and learning. In addition, therapeutic environments that emphasize safety, compassion, and collaboration can help reduce defensive responses and support deeper exploration. For these reasons, clinicians may benefit from considering how the framing of therapeutic tools influences the therapeutic process.
The workbook discussed in this webinar is available here.
1. Brown B. Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience. Random House; 2021.
3. Johnson SM. Attachment Theory in Practice: Emotionally Focused Therapy with Individuals, Couples, and Families. Guilford Press; 2019.
Mention of commercial products does not indicate endorsement.