Introduction to Crucible® Therapy

Title of Event: Introduction to Crucible® Therapy

Description of Event:

A five-session live online training in the Sexual Crucible® Approach to couples and sex therapy, developed by Dr. David Schnarch. This differentiation-based model understands sex as a vehicle for human growth rather than a behavior to be corrected, integrating systems theory, interpersonal neurobiology, and adult development into a unified clinical framework.

The Crucible® Approach rests on the premise that committed relationships function as a people-growing machine, the primary context in which adults are most challenged and most capable of genuine development. It is one of the most clinically sophisticated models available for treating sexual and intimacy problems, and it reaches couples and individuals who have not responded to other approaches.

Across five sessions, participants will learn the foundational premises of the model and how it departs from conventional couples and sex therapy; core concepts including differentiation, self-validated and other-validated intimacy, and the Four Points of Balance; how to distinguish collaborative, collusive, and combative therapeutic alliances; mind mapping as a clinical tool for tracking process in session; high desire and low desire partner dynamics and the Crucible® understanding of desire discrepancy; the sexual elicitation window and its clinical use; gridlock and the growth versus comfort cycle; holding the heat and the differentiated therapist stance; and Crucible® Neurobiological Therapy, including steady-state and reactive regressions.

Instruction is delivered through didactic presentation, clinical video demonstration, case illustration, and live discussion. Participants view four to eight short clinical video examples per session. The final 30 minutes of every session addresses Person of the Therapist: ethics, integrity, and the therapist's own development as a clinical instrument.

The training is presented by Amy Fuller, PhD, LMFT-S, LPC-S, CST-S, an AASECT Certified Sex Therapist and Approved Supervisor, who trained in the Crucible® Approach with Dr. Schnarch from 2012 through his passing in 2020, and subsequently with Dr. Ruth Morehouse and through ongoing consultation with Barbara Fairfield and Grace Whitman.

Since Dr. Schnarch's passing in September 2020, no formal introductory training in the Crucible® Approach has been publicly available. This is the first structured introduction offered since that time, and it incorporates elements Dr. Schnarch developed later in his career, including Crucible® Neurobiological Therapy and his work on regressions and the Mariana Trench model.

Start Date: 09-09-2026

End Date: 10-21-2026

Time of Event: 3:30 pm-6:30 CT Wednesdays

Location: Online Synchronous

Sex Therapy (ST) Training: 

ST-A. Theory and methods of sex-related psychotherapy, including several different models.
ST-C. Theory and methods of approach to intervention in relationship systems experiencing sex and intimacy problems.
ST-F. Ethical decision-making and best practice.

Presenter/Speaker: Amy Fuller, PhD, LMFT-S, LPC-S, CST-S

Company/Organization Sponsor: International Crucible Therapy Education Center (ICTEC)

Main Contact: Amy Fuller

Contact Telephone Number: (713) 893-3669

Contact Email: amy@amyfullerphd.com

Event Website: https://amyfullerphd.com/crucibletraining/

AASECT Approved CEs: 15