Therapeutic Ruptures with Teens: A Complete Toolkit to Repair Broken Trust, Rebuild Connection and Get Treatment Back on Track
- Speaker:
- Sophie Cassell, PhD
- Duration:
- 6 Hours 14 Minutes
- Language:
- Presented in EN, subtitles in EN and FR, handouts in EN and FR
- Format:
- Audio and Video
- Copyright:
-
Jul 29, 2025
- Product Code:
- POS150200
- Media Type:
- Digital Seminar
Description
Working with teenagers in therapy can be incredibly rewarding, but let’s face it – it’s also one of the most challenging roles you’ll ever take on.
Desire for independence, fluctuating motivation, and evolving emotional needs make the work tricky – and can lead to therapeutic ruptures that can be difficult to identify, let alone repair …
That’s why I created this all-new training to make sure you can not only recognize but also address therapeutic ruptures with strategies that work, so you can repair the relationship and keep your work with teens on track.
You’ll get the skills, tools and clinical language to:
- Assess the “mental and developmental” age of your teen clients to tailor your approach and interventions more effectively.
- Implement a straightforward framework for recognizing and addressing ruptures during sessions with adolescents.
- Master strategies to repair ruptures and rebuild trust with teens in a way that strengthens the therapeutic alliance.
- Leverage past ruptures as opportunities for growth, using them to deepen and enhance your connection with your teen clients.
Don’t let ruptures derail your work – purchase today and take your therapeutic practice with teens to the next level.
Credit
Program Information
Planning Committee Disclosure - No relevant relationshipsAll members of the PESI, Inc. planning committee have provided disclosures of financial relationships with ineligible organizations and any relevant non-financial relationships prior to planning content for this activity. None of the committee members had relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies or other potentially biasing relationships to disclose to learners. For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.
NOTE: Tuition includes one free CE Certificate (participant will be able to print the certificate of completion after passing the online post-test (80% passing score) and completing the evaluation). Instructional methods will include PowerPoint, didactic lecture, and others.
Continuing Education Information: Listed below are the continuing education credit(s) currently available for this non-interactive self-study package. Program content is reviewed periodically per accrediting board rules for currency and appropriateness for credit. Credit approvals are subject to change. Please note, your licensing board dictates whether self-study is an acceptable form of continuing education, as well as which credit types are acceptable for continuing education hours. Please refer to your licensing board's rules and regulations. If your profession is not listed, please contact your licensing board to determine your continuing education requirements and check for reciprocal approval.
For other credit inquiries not specified below, please contact info@pesi.com or 800-844-8260 before purchase.
Materials that are included in this course may include interventions and modalities that are beyond the authorized practice of your profession. As a licensed professional, you are responsible for reviewing the scope of practice, including activities that are defined in law as beyond the boundaries of practice in accordance with and in compliance with your profession's standards.
For Planning Committee disclosures, please see the statement above. For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.
Earn up to 6.0 CE hours. Please see below, for more details, as credit amounts vary by jurisdiction and profession.
PESI, Inc. is approved by the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association to offer continuing education for counsellors and psychotherapists. PESI, Inc. maintains responsibility for the program. This self-study activity is approved for 6.0 credit hours.
PESI, Inc. is approved by the Canadian Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. PESI, Inc. maintains responsibility for the program. This program is approved for 6.0 self-study continuing education hours. Full credit statement at: www.pesi.com/cpa-statement

PESI, Inc., #1062, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: January 27, 2026 - January 27, 2029. Social workers completing this course receive 6.25 Clinical continuing education credits.
Course Level: Intermediate Format: Recorded asynchronous distance. Full attendance is required; no partial credits will be offered for partial attendance.
Canadian Social Workers: Canadian provinces may accept activities offered by providers approved by the ASWB ACE program for ongoing professional development.
This self-study activity qualifies for 6.0 continuing education clock hours as required by many national and local licensing boards and professional organizations. Save your activity advertisement and certificate of completion, and contact your own board or organization for specific requirements.

This self-study course has been approved by PESI, Inc., as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits. NAADAC Provider #77553. PESI, Inc. is responsible for all aspects of their programming.
This self-study course offers 6.0 continuing education contact hours in the Counseling Services skill group. Full attendance is required; no partial credit will be awarded for partial attendance.
Handouts
| File type | File name | Number of pages | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual - Therapeutic Ruptures with Teens (3.3 MB) | 61 Pages | Available after Purchase | |
| Manual - Therapeutic Ruptures with Teens - French (3.3 MB) | 61 Pages | Available after Purchase | |
| Manual - Therapeutic Ruptures with Teens - Italian (3.3 MB) | 61 Pages | Available after Purchase | |
| Manual - Therapeutic Ruptures with Teens - German (3.3 MB) | 61 Pages | Available after Purchase | |
| Manual - Therapeutic Ruptures with Teens - Spanish (3.3 MB) | 61 Pages | Available after Purchase |
Speaker
Sophie Cassell, PhD Related seminars and products
Sophie Cassell, PhD, is a licensed psychologist in New York State. Formerly an educator, she is now an expert in the treatment of adolescents. She boasts an extensive educational background, including a master’s from the University of Miami and a doctorate from the Derner School of Professional Psychology at Adelphi University. Dr. Cassell has worked in numerous treatment settings, including schools, juvenile adjudication programs, inpatient and outpatient hospital settings, and private practice. Currently, Dr. Cassell operates her own private practice wherein she offers individual therapy, attachment-based family therapy, and neuropsychological testing for middle – and high-school aged adolescents and young adults.
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Sophie Cassell maintains a private practice and has an employment relationship with Elmhurst Hospital Center. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Sophie Cassell has no relevant non-financial relationships.
Additional Info
Program Information
Access for Self-Study (Non-Interactive)Access never expires for this product.
For a more detailed outline that includes times or durations of time, if needed, please contact cepesi@pesi.com.
Questions?
Visit our FAQ page at https://www.pesicanada.ca/faq or contact us at https://www.pesicanada.ca/contact-us.
Objectives
- Determine how to strengthen the therapeutic alliance.
- Analyze the relationship between rupture-repair dynamics and treatment dropout in adolescent therapy.
- Identify how different stages of adolescent development influence the formation and maintenance of the therapeutic alliance.
- Identify the therapists’ role in rupture process.
- Examine transference and countertransference pitfalls that occur within treatment with adolescents.
- Determine how therapists can turn the experience of rupture into a tangible, identifiable series of observable behaviors.
- Use strategies such as validation, trust-building, and curiosity to repair ruptures in the therapeutic alliance during adolescent therapy.
Outline
Alliance and Ruptures 101- Overview of the working alliance
- Important features of maintaining a therapeutic alliance
- Defining Rupture – a break in the working alliance
- Impact of a rupture of the working alliance and treatment
- Frequency/normality and importance of ruptures in therapeutic process
- How is an adolescent defined developmentally?
- Distinguish chronological age from developmental age, and why is this important?
- The impact of adolescence on social relationships
- Autonomy and pushing boundaries as an important aspect of adolescence
- Factors that may contribute to rupture (involuntary participation, parental involvement. etc.)
- The types of rupture
- What do these types of rupture look like? (video references)
- Behaviors typical of each rupture
- Understanding ruptures impact on the teen
- Rupture and countertransference
- The rupture’s impact on the treatment
- How will ruptures manifest differently in adolescents?
- The power differential and how it affects rupture experience
- Distinguish autonomy-seeking from rupture process
- Countertransference experience in a rupture process with adolescents
- How empathy during ruptures facilitates repair
- Mentalization of rupture – what is being communicated during this rupture?
- 5 common rupture repair techniques
- How to use adolescent developmental age to tailor repair to your teen
- How to assess efficacy of repair interventions
- Ongoing challenges to repair work with adolescents
- Research, risks and limitations
Target Audience
- Counsellors
- School Counsellors
- Psychologists
- Psychotherapists
- Social Workers
- School Social Workers
- Marriage & Family Therapists
- Addiction Counsellors
- Case Managers
- Other Mental Health Professionals
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