January 2024 Update: Relate has partnered with PESI to offer PORT with CEUs. This will be offered live and then as a video course via PESI. This training is PORT Level 1 and is focused upon the history of couples therapy and the 3 foundational theories of PORT: the Relational Brain Model, the Presence Bridge Model, and the 5 Step Therapy Progress Model.

The content included here includes the information in the PESI / PORT Level 1 course, does not have continuing education credits, and includes many more educational resources:

1. 30 hours of lectures which includes 4 hours of example sessions.

2. Dealing with couple conflict

3. Going Deeper - Using couples work to help with unresolved childhood wounds

4. Working with attachment breaches such as affairs, infidelity and betrayal

5. Understanding culture and relationships

6. Using couples therapy to work with sexual trauma

7.  Helping couples separate

8.  Strategies for online couples therapy

9. Integrating PORT into your practice

10. More depth into each of the 3 foundational models.

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If you have completed a PORT Training and are looking for skills training please go to Relate.online and search for PORT Level 2.

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PORT is an integrated eclectic approach developed over the last 8 years by the Relate NZ team.  Initially developed in the context of the weekly team training sessions  it was honed over the next 6 years of the intern programme to help distill the core insights of successful couples and relationship therapy to clinicians who had not been specifically trained to work with couples.

PORT is an intensely practical course that coalesce around the challenge of finding the successful common features of therapy models as diverse as PACT, EFT, Imago, Gottman and the Developmental Model.  What became clear is that each of these models offered significant strengths but often lacked essential features or flexibilities present in other model.  In addition insights from other modalities including Narrative, ACT, NLP, Psychodrama, Gestalt, Relational Neurobiology were incorporated.

Port's focus was simple and driven by the clear imperative of research that indicated that untrained therapist's working with couples were highly unsucessful and the therapy process itself was highly stressful for the couple and the therapist.

The challenge of course is that everyone needs to start somewhere and our focus was to support our interns to be successful as soon as possible.

While Steven was cross-training in Imago, Gottman and EFT he noticed a recurring pattern underlying their seemingly different methods. Steven adapted the Relational bridge model for interns to use and tested this among the team.  The developmental brain model was the next innovation that made relational neuroscience accessible to clinicians and clients and therapy progress model among other innovations.

The feedback from PORT trained therapists is that they quickly felt confident to hold a relational space for the couple that felt safe for deep intimate connecting work and that they had strategies to help them contain and manage conflict.  Additionally  clinicians could maintain and develop their own unique authentic style and presence and incorporate other training and experience more seamlessly and effectively.  

The online offering is designed to provide a resource and reference point for clinicians that can be assimilated at the therapists own pace and these are combined with 4 live sessions of group skills training with Steven which provide opportunities for interaction and implementation.

Once signed up for training you get immediate access to demo videos and a resource developed for clients called 5 Secrets.