An Inclusive Approach to Navigating Relationship Issues

This event was recorded and is available to watch on our YouTube channel and portions of the audio are now on our podcast.

Most of us are willing to do what it takes to make relationships work, and our willingness to work things out has increased in recent years. Between 2008 and 2016, the divorce rate plummeted 18 percent. More and more, couples are choosing to stay together, but most don’t have the right tools or knowledge to do so successfully.

Renowned certified Gottman therapist Elizabeth Earnshaw believes that what’s missing are trusting, inclusive guides to navigating the most difficult issues we face. Elizabeth provides such examples in her work and writing—a culturally tuned in, LGBTQIA+ friendly approach, and an accessible guide to healing relationships and creating enduring intimacy for unmarried and married couples.

Elizabeth identifies three challenges that couples must tackle to repair and strengthen their relationships: conflict, healing, and connection. In her latest book, I Want This to Work, Elizabeth shares her expertise and presents for today’s generation the most effective and proven steps for relationship success.

Join Elizabeth and CIIS professor and licensed psychologist Margaret Boucher for a conversation about how to navigate difficult relationship issues to create stronger and more resilient partnerships.

Elizabeth Earnshaw is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, author, wife, and mom. She's passionate about relational wellness so she started A Better Life Therapy, a relationally focused practice on the East Coast of the USA. She is also the head therapist at Actually, where she is helping to design fresh approaches to taking care of our relationships. You can find her @lizlistens on Instagram or listen to her on Good Risings. Her book I Want This To Work is available November 2021.

Dr. Margaret Boucher received her doctoral degree from the California Institute of Integral Studies' Psy.D. program (2012), a master's degree in clinical psychology from Teacher's College, Columbia University (2005), and her bachelor's from the University of California, Berkeley (2000). She completed her predoctoral internship in the California Pacific Medical Center's mental health outpatient clinic, where she was trained in providing psychodynamic psychotherapy to children, adolescents, and adults. 

From 2013-2017, Dr. Boucher worked as a staff psychologist in the Ann Martin Center's school-based program, providing long-term psychodynamic treatment to K-5th grade students. She began supervising trainees at CIIS' Psychological Services Center in 2014 and teaching as an adjunct faculty member in the Psy.D. program in 2016. 

Prior to beginning her training in clinical psychology, Dr. Boucher was an educational consultant and researcher and she carries with her an interest in thinking about children/families, teachers, and school systems- how they impact one another and are impacted by the sociopolitical background, culture, histories of discrimination and oppression, poverty, and trauma. In addition, she has studied Somatic Learning, an embodied mindfulness practice. 

Dr. Boucher is a licensed psychologist and is currently providing treatment to children and adults in her private practice. She specializes in working with children and adults with anxiety and depression, parenting support, identity exploration, cross-cultural issues, life transitions, relationship challenges, gender and sexuality, and trauma and recovery. 

We are grateful to our Bookstore Partner:

Marcus Books is the nation’s oldest Black-owned independent bookstore celebrating its 60th year. Marcus Books’ mission is to provide opportunities for Black folks and their allies to celebrate and learn about Black people everywhere.