When a Marriage Ends: Understanding and Treating Clients Facing Divorce - SPARK Group

6 weeks, 90 minutes per session.

Tuesdays at 9 - 10:30 am from January 6 to February 10, 2026.

Eligible for 9 CEs | Live On Zoom

Facilitator: Ellen Holtzman, PsyD

Program Dates: 1/6, 1/13, 1/20, 1/27, 2/3, & 2/10

Cost of Program: Free for NEAFAST Members; $80 for nonmembers. Become an NEAFAST Member!

Cost of 9 CEs: $130 for NEAFAST members; $140 for nonmembers.

Maximum participants - 15

About "When a Marriage Ends: Understanding and Treating Clients Facing Divorce":

Despite the prevalence of divorce, this life event remains painful and disruptive, second only to the death of a spouse in the Life Change Index Scale. Not surprisingly, many individuals and families struggling with the repercussions of divorce turn to therapists for direction and relief. For therapists who treat this population, this consultation group offers a chance to develop a deep understanding of the divorce experience, including the struggle to decide to divorce, grief and identity confusion, co-parenting, and rebuilding the self and the family. It also provides an overview of different interventions to use in treatment. Finally, since divorce can bring up personal issues for a therapist, this group will give participants an opportunity to process these issues so that they don’t interfere with the therapeutic work.

The consultation group is relevant to the domain of therapeutic interventions. It will review the research on the most effective interventions to use in treating divorcing individuals and families.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this program, participants will be better able to...

1. Understand the many ways in which divorce disrupts the lives of individuals and families.

2. Identify effective interventions for treating divorcing individuals and families.

3. Increase awareness of biases which may affect therapy.

4. Learn how to rebuild clients’ identity and family life.

Materials to be used:

The group will use "When Marriages Fail: Systemic Family Therapy Interventions and Issues" as a guide, but the book is not required reading. The paperback and E-book can be purchased for $47.99. Some of the topics covered in the group are discussed in Ellen Holtzman’s book "Bouncing Back: How Women Lose & Find Themselves in Marriage & Divorce."

About the Instructor:

Ellen Holtzman, Psy.D earned her degree from William James College. She has been in private practice for twenty-five years. Prior to going into practice, she was a staff psychologist and then the Director of Training for the Hitchcock Clinic’s behavioral health program in Nashua, NH. She has taught psychology at UMass Lowell. Holtzman is also the award-winning author of "Bouncing Back: How Women Lose & Find Themselves in Marriage & Divorce

POLICY DISCLOSURES & PARTICIPANT EXPECTATIONS

This activity has been pre-certified by the New England Association for Family and Systemic Therapy (NEAFAST) on behalf of the Massachusetts Board of Registration of Allied Mental Health & Human Services Professions for LMFT professional continuing education.
This activity is pending approval from MaMHCA for LMHC continuing education.
This activity is pending certification for continuing education for Massachusetts social workers through NASW-MA.
Please note: It is the participant’s responsibility to check with their individual state boards to verify CE requirements for their state.
Attendance Policy: All participants seeking continuing education credit must attend the entire program. NEAFAST may, in cases of medical emergencies or other extenuating circumstances, offer partial credit if 80% of the overall credit hours were completed. Please speak to the instructor/facilitator as soon as possible about this if necessary. Those attending as a free member benefit should still plan to attend all meetings to optimize learning and cohesion for all group members.
Cancellation Policy: There will be no refunds. It is the participant's responsibility to plan to attend all meetings.