ATTACHMENT, THE BODY & RELATIONAL REPAIR
Three Pillars of Clinical Practice
About this Attachment Workshop for Therapists
Attachment trauma deeply impacts the integrity of the self, creating a split between the psyche and the body. This fragmentation and disembodiment, at the heart of insecure attachment, disrupts healthy development, and forges a neurophysiological template that endures throughout the lifespan, and across generations. Corresponding affect management strategies and attachment patterns, accompanied by dysregulation of the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), distorts one’s internal working models, ultimately skewing one’s self-perception, world, and identity.
As clinicians, we understand that the wounded psyche and neurophysiological body call for embodied, affectively oriented, and relationally focused therapy, heeding Kalsched’s (2013) assertion “what has been broken relationally must be repaired relationally” (p. 13), yet, we are left with the questions: How do we translate attachment theory into embodied clinical practice and, how do we regulate and facilitate reparation of attachment injury, particularly when it drives unconscious relational strategies and affect management systems?
This attachment workshop for therapists explores these questions. We will delve into clinical practice with regards to attachment injuries (insecure attachment), their repair, and affect regulation within the context of embodied relational practice, to facilitate regulation of the ANS, and offer reparative relational experiences to shift attachment patterning, and aid in the maturation and development of the right brain. Through interactive lecture, discussion, and observation of video sessions, we will explore the following conceptual frameworks: attachment theory; embodied relational practice; The Polyvagal Theory; the window of tolerance; affect regulation theory; and the implications of trauma, particularly relational/attachment trauma.
This online workshop will:
- Present current clinical understandings of attachment theory
- Explore attachment patterning, gleaned from the Adult Attachment Interview, with application to practice
- Introduce internal working models of self and implications for clinical practice
- Consider how to work with and regulate affect
- Deepen understanding of attachment and attachment repair through therapeutic relationships
- Discuss therapist disclosure with regards to attachment repair and relational practice
- Introduce the body in clinical practice in terms of affect regulation
- Explore how the body, brain, and autonomic nervous system (ANS) interconnect with relational/attachment trauma
- Learn about the window of tolerance and how to work within it
- Learn about The Polyvagal Theory and apply it to practice
- Link attachment patterning, the ANS, the window of tolerance, and clinical practice
- Explore practices for greater therapist embodiment, attunement, and relational practice
Fees & Dates
Stay tuned for 2027 dates
This workshop is open to therapists with a graduate degree in a mental health discipline.
Somatic Therapy Trainings FAQ
What is somatic therapy?
Somatic therapy attends to body and both right and left hemispheres to attend to injuries of the body and mind. It has various applications, is profoundly potent in treating trauma - relational, incident, and complex.
How does this orientation differ from Somatic Experiencing (SE)?
The heart of Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy (SAP) is the reparation of attachment injuries. SAP uniquely weaves somatic psychotherapy with attachment theory and application to practice through a psychodynamic, relational lens. In this way, the SAP orientation is distinct from Somatic Experiencing (SE) and other body-based modalities.
Who are these courses intended for?
These courses are intended for psychotherapists seeking to advance and deepen their clinical practice. Participants need a graduate degree in a clinical mental health discipline.
How is this orientation grounded in evidence-based practice?
Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy draws upon diverse research in neuroscience, attachment theory and research, trauma studies, Polyvagal Theory, and Interpersonal Neurobiology. It also draws on the rich psychoanalytic lineage arcing over the past century. Our curriculums integrate these frameworks into clinical application.
What’s the difference between somatic therapy and traditional talk therapy?
Talk therapy primarily engages cognitive and left-hemisphere processes whereas somatic attachment psychotherapy, integrates both right and left hemispheric processes, working directly with the autonomic nervous system, attachment patterning and relational dynamics, affect regulation, mentalization, and embodiment for the reparation of trauma, specifically relational/attachment trauma.
Can I become a somatic therapist through your offerings?
No. Our offerings are for clinicians who have a graduate degree in a clinical mental health discipline. They provide sophisticated and nuanced theoretical, conceptual and application to practice in the areas of somatic practice, attachment repair, and relational practice. Our work is uniquely embodied and relational.