Part 2: Imago Relationship Therapy: Practical application of core Imago skills.

CPD courses & points for psychologists in South Africa

Explore Imago Relationship Therapy courses in South Africa. Learn empathy, Zero Negativity, and dialogue for relational healing.

This talk explores the Imago Relationship Therapy (IRT) framework for transforming relational dynamics through empathy, Zero Negativity, affirmation, and intentional dialogue. Drawing on developmental psychology and neurobiology, we examine how childhood wounds are activated in adult relationships and how empathic presence can create corrective emotional experiences that rewire neural pathways. The session explains why negativity arises from a survival-driven bias toward threat, and how the Zero Negativity practice shifts partners into a state of safety that allows genuine connection to emerge. Participants will learn how frustrations mask deeper wishes and unmet childhood needs, and how dialogue, the stretching principle and effective expression of needs create opportunities for healing, differentiation, and true relational closeness. Finally, we clarify the distinction between appreciation and affirmation: how partners can learn to affirm each other’s intrinsic worth, an essential step toward equality, empathy, and sustaining real love.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this talk, participants will be able to:

• Understand the neurobiological and developmental basis of reactivity in relationships, including how childhood memories are triggered and how empathic presence can create new neural pathways and corrective emotional experiences.
• Apply the principles of Zero Negativity and the stretching process to create relational safety, convert frustrations into needs-based requests, and engage in dialogue that promote healing and connection.
• Differentiate between appreciation and affirmation and recognise how affirmation of a partner’s intrinsic worth supports differentiation, reduces symbiosis, and fosters the core goals of IRT: equality, empathy, zero negativity, and affirmation of otherness.