PACT Level 3

The PACT Institute’s commitment to education and training has long helped clinicians move forward in the practice of couple therapy.

PACT Level 3 Online Training helps you expand your skills, gain deeper understanding, and develop a more complete command of advanced PACT interventions.

PACT Level 3 provides an innovative curriculum and proven organizational structure to support your growth and development as a couple therapist. This level of training prepares you to become a top PACT provider. Successful completion of Level 3 training also enables you to seek PACT certification.

The next PACT Level 3 course will be offered in 2024, which makes 2023 the year to endeavor more deeply in the application of your current PACT knowledge and abilities. As a Level 2 alum, use 2023 to actively practice, apply, and expand what you have learned in Levels 1 and 2.  

We want nothing more than for you to enter Level 3 successfully, complete Level 3 successfully, and complete our certification program successfully. We believe in setting you up for success, setting your couple clients up for success, and healing as much of the world as we can together.

The PACT Institute offers many opportunities right now that are designed to help you advance and prepare for the rigors of Level 3. 

•  Participate in Case Studies. Actively attending Level 1 or 2 Case Analysis Labs is one of the best ways to deepen your understanding and practice of PACT. When you feel ready to present a case to your peers, we even have a template to help you to prepare your case study for discussion and analysis. 
• Become a Coach. Once you have attended multiple Level 1 or 2 clinical trainings, roll up your sleeves and experience what it’s like to be a PACT coach. Peer coaching helps you deepen your understanding of PACT also.
• Answer chat questions during live clinical trainings.
• Head into breakout rooms with new students, and give students feedback on their role play, much like a teacher’s assistant.
• If you’re interested in becoming a PACT coach, reach out to your PACT Level 2 training coordinator: [email protected].
• Retake Level 2. “I need to spend more time with the material” is a common refrain we hear from recent Level 2 alumni.  Indeed, Level 2 training is so packed with rich content that clinicians report that they get more out of the course each time they take it. It’s true. Your most successful Level 3 colleagues have taken Level 2 several times to solidify their learning and incorporate it into practice. The PACT Institute offers a 15 percent discount on Level 2 when you take it more than once.
• Dig into those Level 3 Requirements. PACT has many Level 3 requirements. Have you taken a look at the list? For example, did you know that you need 3 years as a PACT therapist and need to have treated 30 couples with PACT techniques to qualify? 

With Level 3 requirements like these in mind, we encourage you to develop a strategy and a timeline to tackle the application checklist. Use 2023 to prepare for acceptance into the program and the work needed to complete this advanced training  in 2024. 

• Subscribe. One year after your Level 2 training, you will need to sign up for your Level 2 Alumni Membership Subscription, which will automatically renew annually thereafter. You will then continue to get access to a vast collection of videos plus the PACT Manual. Some videos delve deeper into specific topics than the ones you viewed in class, and we add videos to the collection as often as we can to keep you current. After you sign up, your annual subscription renews  automatically.
• Write a PACT blog. Let’s face it. Couple therapists have had a unique few years since Covid began. Writing can help you reflect on a specific couple challenge that you have success addressing and how PACT helps in the process  as you help others. Publishing also can help you promote your expertise. Start brainstorming ideas, and contact [email protected] for our writers’ guidelines.

As you prepare for Level 3 in 2024, think: Grad School. The Level 3 program is vigorous and challenging, much like a good graduate school program. Level 3 has high academic expectations along with dedicated faculty support. The training combines online learning consisting of four two-day experiential teaching blocks with PACT founder Dr. Stan Tatkin and core faculty member Dr. Hans Stahlschmidt.

Stan and Hans are committed to nurturing your professional and clinical development and helping you deepen your clinical knowledge and skills.

In addition to the training weekends, Stan and Hans lead a series of book discussion groups for Level 3 students. These groups meet outside of the scheduled class time and foster self-reflection as well as the introduction and integration of new ideas.

Support is a cornerstone throughout the training. In Level 3, the majority of the training sessions are spent workshopping new skills and getting instruction in real time. Stan and Hans provide frequent feedback on each student's work and complete written evaluations of their final papers.

PACT Level 3 training emphasizes developing a more complete command of advanced PACT skills and deepening the integration of PACT into your clinical practice.  

Building on what you learned in Level 2, you’ll gain new insight, develop your assessment strategies and intervention techniques, and enjoy collaborating with colleagues on particularly thorny cases.

Learn how to handle common difficult situations, including: sexual issues, personality issues, acting out, staging, betrayal, deal breakers, Islands and Waves, disorganized presentation, additions, and situations where one partner doesn’t want to play.

Take PACT even further in your work with couples. Successful completion of Level 3 training rewards you with the designation as a PACT Level 3 clinician/therapist, indicating knowledge of and proficiency in integrating basic and advanced PACT skills and principles in a clinical setting. Successful completion of Level 3 training also opens the door for you to seek PACT certification.

Level 3 was designed for high-level PACT practitioners who have been using PACT in their practice for a minimum of three years and is ready for in-depth learning to integrate their knowledge, expand their skills, and deepen the integration of PACT into their clinical practice.  

The training is limited to a maximum of 20 students. The low student to teacher ratio enables a different type of training experience with a high level of attention and support from each instructor for each student. In Level 3, the majority of the training sessions are spent workshopping new skills and getting feedback in real time.

To determine if you qualify for this advanced training, please read about PACT Level 3 requirements and expectations here.

PACT training is intended for fully licensed marriage and family therapists, professional counselors, social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists (or those who have earned an equivalent degree outside of the United States).

Requirements for Participation in PACT Level 3:

• Minimum of 3 years in practice
• PACT treatment with a minimum of 30 couples 
• Completion of all modules of Level 2 training within the last two years. 
• If you completed Level 2 training more than two years ago, you may repeat Level 2 or you must have engaged in professional development through the PACT Institute for the last two years.
• Professional development includes participation in a minimum of six hours per year of continuing education through the PACT Institute. 
• Those six hours must include at least three hours of Case Analysis Labs.
• Those six hours may also include participating as a coach in PACT training.

In addition, before registering for Level 3, you will be asked to:

1.     Provide your professional license type and number
2.     Confirm your office setup includes rolling chairs and video capabilities
3.     Confirm your malpractice insurance is current and in good standing

At the end of PACT Level 3 Training, participants will be able to:

1. Assess issues related to sex and intimacy
2. Plan and propose treatment for issues related to sex and intimacy
3. Evaluate issues related to various behavioral and chemical addictions as a mismanaged third
4. Manage issues related to various behavioral and chemical addictions as a mismanaged third
5. Appraise gender-related issues
6. Adapt treatment to the needs of gender-related issues
7. Distinguish the different needs of various cultures
8. Adapt treatment to the needs of various cultures
9. Assess the needs of various alternative relationships (e.g. polyamory)
10. Organize treatment based on the needs of various alternative relationships (e.g. polyamory)
11. Demonstrate a basic understanding of neuropsychological deficits, to assess and make appropriate referrals
12. Demonstrate the ability to teach PACT theory
13. Demonstrate the ability to teach PACT techniques
14. Demonstrate competency in case conceptualization
15. Devise treatment plans using PACT principles
16. Assess for acting out behaviors
17. Formulate and apply appropriate interventions for acting out behaviors
18. Evaluate and support insufficient therapeutic alliance
19. Establish and support a therapeutic frame
20. Analyze video recording and playback for therapeutic purposes
21. Demonstrate self-regulatory skills
22. Demonstrate recovery under stressful conditions
23. Evaluate the needs of couples/partners with disorganization or personality disorders
24. Formulate a treatment plan for couples/partners with disorganization or personality disorders
25. Demonstrate appropriate interventions for couples/partners with disorganization or personality disorders
26. Differentiate between defensive structures
27. Manage defensive structures in treatment
28. Interpret countertransference 
29. Utilize transference and countertransference material
30. Interpret projective identification
31. Manage projective identification

Level 3 Terms of Service.