What is PACT Therapy and Who Is It For?

The Psychobiological Approach to Couple Therapy (or PACT) centers around a set of principles that are grounded in relationship fairness, mutuality, and safety, what PACT therapists call secure functioning. PACT therapy works on strengthening the secure functioning within your relationship to foster a bond rooted in what’s best for everyone rather than just focusing on one person’s needs. If you’re struggling with finding balance within your relationship then you should look into finding a PACT therapist. The technique was developed out of research in the three areas of Neuroscience, Attachment Theory, and the Biology of Human Arousal. Neuroscience is the study of the human brain. To understand how people act and react within relationships, it’s essential to understand the psychology of the brain. In a nutshell, some areas of your brain are wired to reduce threat and danger and seek security, while others are geared to establish mutuality and loving connection. Attachment theory is the explanation for the biological need to bond with others. Experiences in early relationships create a blueprint that informs the sense of safety and security you bring to adult relationships. In other words, experiences in past relationships can create trauma or insecurities that you continue to carry with you after the relationship is over. This trauma can be problematic within a new relationship if the issues are not resolved. The biology of human arousal is the moment-to-moment ability to manage one’s energy, alertness, and readiness to engage. When you combine all of these areas of research together, you get the PACT approach to couples therapy! Dr. Stan Tatkin studies human emotional responses coupled with a person’s relationship history and level of arousal in order to help individuals build stronger relationships. 

According to one of our Respark Therapists, Rena Oates, PACT is it’s a type of couples therapy that can quickly get to the heart of what’s happening with conflict. PACT therapy sessions are different from typical couples therapy sessions. A pact session may look like the following:

• Your experience during a PACT session may differ somewhat from what you would experience in other forms of couple therapy. 
• Your therapist will focus on moment-to-moment shifts in your face, body, and voice and ask you to pay close attention to these as a couple.
• Your therapist will create experiences similar to those troubling your relationship and help you work through them in real-time during the session.
• PACT tends to require fewer sessions than other forms of couple therapy.
• PACT sessions often exceed the 50-min hour and may last as long as 3–6 hours. Longer times allow for the in-depth work of PACT.
• Your therapist may videotape sessions to provide immediate feedback to you.

Dr. Stan Tatkin, who developed PACT in XXXX produced a guide for PACT therapists on how to know if a couple is secure functioning. A few of the signals are as follows:

1. They come in with a therapeutic alliance — fully collaborative, cooperative, on task — and they stay that way.
2. They (mostly) come in with a collaborative narrative and talk fluidly about one thing, usually without disagreeing with each other or continually getting into conflict.
3. They show no problems going face to face or with eye contact.
4. They protect each other in front of you, the therapist. They do not throw each other under the bus.
5. They are able to talk clearly and honestly without any sense of deception. They seem to be as they are. They are serious about working on their relationship and not on each other.
6. They demonstrate that they are able to recognize good and bad in themselves and in their partners simultaneously without signs of splitting.

 Overall, secure functioning is rooted in intimacy and respect within your relationship. It’s about being fully present with your partner in therapy and treating them as human beings. PACT therapy can help you to strengthen the sense of secure functioning within your relationship and bring you even closer with your partner(s). If you’re struggling with any of the topics Dr. Tatkin outlines above, PACT therapy can help you. 

PACT therapy investigates what is needed for each partner to feel safe and secure with each other. In an article for the PACT Institute, Annie Chen notes that attachment needs often need to be explored in order for each partner to feel safe and secure in a relationship. Attachment needs have to do with how people experience their partner’s timing and response to closeness, support, and separation. Some individuals have a higher attachment need as a result of the trauma they may hold with them from past relationships. It’s important to find a balance between attachment needs that suits you and your partner(s) to ensure that boundaries are mutually respected. Chen believes that PACT couple therapy can help you and your partner(s) learn more about one another and discover the rules and agreements that are necessary to sustain your relationship. In PACT therapy, it’s important to respect what each partner brings to a relationship and how those attributes interact with one another. Relationships become secure when there’s a set of rules that works for and respects everyone’s needs. The journey of a relationship includes discovering what these rules need to be in order for it to work for both partners, a PACT therapist can help guide you on this journey. 

By Alyssa Morterud