Speaking, Training & Consultation

With Dr. Courtney Freiman

Helping Therapists Support Clients at the Edge of Relationship Decisions

I offer educational sessions and consultation for therapists and group practices who want to feel more confident, skilled, and grounded when working with clients facing the hardest relationship questions—whether they’re ambivalent about divorce or part of a mixed-agenda couple on the brink.

  • Trainer For Clinicians: Working with Divorce-Ambivalent Clients in Individual Therapy

    This training is designed for therapists who find themselves supporting individual clients unsure whether to stay in or leave a long-term relationship.

    These clients often present with a mix of resentment, guilt, fear, and hopelessness—and without clear direction, therapy can become repetitive, stuck, or subtly biased toward divorce or staying.

    In this presentation, I provide practical, research-based guidance on how to assess the client’s true level of ambivalence, how to avoid becoming a passive sounding board, and how to help clients reflect on their own contributions to the relationship dynamic. I explore how to reframe the immediate decision as “whether to get help for the marriage” rather than “whether to stay or go,” and how to support clients in clarifying their values, assumptions, and emotional readiness.

    Therapists leave this session with greater clarity about what their role is—and isn’t—when working with leaning-out clients, and how to move from circling to forward motion without rushing their client’s process.

  • Speaking & Consultation: Discernment Counseling for Couples “on the brink”

    For therapists and teams who want to better understand how to support couples on the brink of divorce—especially when one partner is leaning out and the other wants to save the relationship—I offer educational sessions on the structure, goals, and clinical rationale for Discernment Counseling.

    This model was created specifically for situations where traditional couples therapy is not appropriate or effective. I walk clinicians through what makes a couple eligible for Discernment Counseling, how the model helps couples move toward clarity and confidence in their decision-making, and how it differs from standard relationship therapy.

    These sessions are especially helpful for teams that regularly receive referrals for last-ditch effort couples therapy or who are unsure how to respond when one partner is disengaged. I also consult with individual therapists who already work with one partner and want to collaborate with a discernment counselor or learn how to refer ethically and effectively.

I’m available for in-person and virtual presentations, lunch-and-learns for clinical teams, case consultation, and podcast interviews.

Whether you're looking to educate yourself, your team, strengthen clinical decision-making, or offer your audience a deeper look into this work, I bring a warm, direct, and deeply informed approach that bridges insight with practical application.

If you'd like to book a presentation, consultation, or interview, I’d love to be part of the conversation.