UPCOMING LIVE TRAINING
Understanding Attraction in Clinical Practice
A Three-Part Professional Training Series
Dates: Nov 2, Nov 9 & Nov 16, 2026
12:00–1:30 PM ET / 7:00–8:30 PM Israel
Live on Zoom
“Dr. Frances’ framework is extremely clear, descriptive, and clinically useful.” - Previous Training Participant
Why do some clients become intensely drawn to people who repeatedly prove to be poor fits?
Why does attraction sometimes fade as a relationship becomes more secure?
Why do some clients question attraction within otherwise promising relationships, or experience highly specific, compulsive, or confusing attractions?
When clients present with confusing, overpowering, or recurring attraction patterns—whether in dating or within relationships—therapists may have ways to understand them through attachment, developmental history, or relational reenactment, yet still be left without a clear way to explain why a particular person, quality, fantasy, or relationship feels so compelling.
What I have found clinically—and what I am excited to introduce in this training—is that many of these complex attraction presentations can often be understood through one of four attraction patterns, which I call Rescue, Completion, Validation, and Self-Expansion Attraction. As I will discuss, each pattern centers on a different quality in the desired person and the specific emotional reward that quality appears to promise.
Participants will learn how to recognize these patterns in clinical conversations, what cues to listen for, what each pattern may reveal about a client’s emotional needs and developmental history, and how to explain these dynamics in a way that is clear and non-shaming.
The training also distinguishes these patterns from broad attraction and from attraction that develops through interpersonal connection and compatibility.
Across the three sessions, the training moves from pattern recognition (Session 1), to understanding how attraction develops, intensifies, weakens, or changes over time (Session 2), to clinical intervention for some especially difficult patterns (Session 3).
Excerpt from previous training: On the importance of identifying ingrained cultural assumptions.
Participants will come away with a practical roadmap for helping clients make sense of confusing attraction patterns and make more informed decisions about dating, compatibility, and relationships.
Designed primarily for clinicians; rabbis, educators, dating coaches, graduate students, and other professionals who counsel or support adults around dating and relationships are also welcome.
Learn More About the Psychology of Attraction Project—>
TRAINING SUMMARY
Three live 90-minute sessions (4.5 total hours)
Live on Zoom, Participant cameras can be on or off
60 minutes teaching, 30 minutes clinical application and discussion
Teaching portions recorded and available for 30 days after the final session
Designed primarily for clinicians; graduate students and other professionals working with dating and relationships are also welcome
CEUs are not available for this series
Registration includes all three live sessions:
$149 regular registration
$89 early registration through Oct. 18
$49 graduate student/international participant
SESSION DATES AND TITLES
Session 1: The Four Patterns of Complex Attraction: Recognizing What Makes Someone So Compelling
Monday, November 2, 2026 | 12:00–1:30pm, US Eastern Time
Introduces the core framework for identifying recurring attraction patterns, emotional promises, and the psychological factors that can make a particular person, quality, or scenario unusually compelling.
Session 2: Fantasy, Compatibility, and Connection — Understanding Attraction Trajectories
Monday, November 9, 2026 |12:00–1:30pm, US Eastern Time
Examines how attraction can intensify, weaken, or change over time, including the distinction between trigger-based attraction and attraction that develops through interpersonal connection.
Session 3: From Formulation to Intervention — Applying the Framework to Difficult Cases
Monday, November 16, 2026 |12:00–1:30pm, US Eastern Time
Applies the framework to complex clinical presentations, including difficult dating patterns, same-sex attraction, limerence/emotional dependency, compulsive attractions, and unstable but powerful relationship dynamics.
Each live session includes approximately 60 minutes of teaching followed by 30 minutes for clinical application, questions and discussion. Case material will be discussed in a way that is appropriate for a multidisciplinary audience and protects client confidentiality.
WHAT PARTICIPANTS WILL LEARN:
Identify common attraction triggers and recurring patterns that contribute to confusion in dating and relationships.
Distinguish trigger-based attraction organized around a particular quality, fantasy, or emotional promise from connection attraction that develops through interpersonal chemistry and growing relational interest.
Formulate why a particular person or relationship becomes unusually compelling and identify the emotional function the attraction may be serving.
Use that formulation to guide intervention, including helping clients examine fantasy, compatibility, reinforcement, avoidance, and alternative ways of responding to the underlying emotional need.
A reduced registration rate is available to graduate students and participants outside the US to help make the training more accessible.
FEEDBACK FROM PRIOR TRAININGS
"I really enjoyed the presentation and learned a lot. I appreciate this framework, and already put it into use today! It opened new avenues of exploration for a client."
Shevy Jacobs, MS, LMFT
“Dr. Frances’ framework is extremely clear, descriptive, and clinically useful.”
Eliezer Evan Schwadron, LCSW-R
“Dr. Koby Frances is a very needed voice of reason shining bright light on dark corners. As a rabbi, I can attest that this approach is fully consistent with Torah values as expressed in both halacha and mussar. I highly commend his work.”
Rabbi Yitzchak Beitowitz, Rosh Yeshiva, Ohr Sameach
"I've watched all 3 of your lectures. They were ground-breaking, thought-provoking and so refreshing! I was so impressed with your perspective and how you're ready to challenge traditional therapy in these sensitive areas, in such a humble way!"
Miri Wajchman, Marriage and Intimacy Coach
ABOUT THE PRESENTER
Koby Frances, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist with more than fifteen years of experience in private practice, academic teaching, clinical training, and supervision. His clinical work focuses on dating and relationships, recurring and unwanted attractions, compulsive sexual behavior, and questions of sexual identity. Much of his practice now focuses on supervising and training clinicians around the globe.
Dr. Frances is the founder of the Psychology of Attraction Project, an educational initiative focused on attraction, dating, relationships, intimacy, and compulsive sexual behavior. Through the project, he develops clinical frameworks, professional trainings, articles, and practical resources for clinicians and other professionals. His broader clinical work also includes complex trauma and longstanding relational patterns, which inform his interest in how early experience, emotional needs, and reinforcement can shape attraction over time.
He has taught and presented at numerous universities, college counseling centers, mental health clinics, doctoral programs, international conferences, Orthodox community venues, and group practices. His writing has appeared in Psychoanalytic Psychology, Hakira, and Dialogue for Torah Issues & Ideas.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
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The teaching portions will be recorded and available for 30 days. Questions, participant discussion, and case consultation will not be recorded in order to protect privacy. Recording availability after the series has not yet been determined. Those interested may contact Dr. Frances for information.
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The series is designed primarily for mental-health professionals. Graduate students, rabbis, educators, dating coaches, kallah teachers, and other professionals who regularly encounter these concerns are also welcome. The framework will be presented in an accessible and practical way, and no specific theoretical background or amount of clinical experience is required.
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Yes, participants are welcome to have their cameras on or off during the presentation and case discussion and you are welcome to change or remove your name from the Zoom meeting.
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Continuing-education credit is not available for this series. CE credit may be considered for future trainings.
PREVIOUS TRAININGS
Invited presentations for doctoral psychology programs, counseling centers, group private practices, and mental health organizations.
International trainings for therapists and rabbis
Conference presentations at the International Forum for Psychoanalytic Education
Presentations at Nefesh International Conference
Fifteen years of undergraduate and graduate psychology teaching including serving as Chair of Psychology at Touro College South and Director of Clinical Training at SUNY Old Westbury Counseling Center