Working with Trauma-Related Hurt in the Attachment

Attachment is an emotional bond which means ‘no matter what’ you will be here, reliable, kind and forever always. Attachment is about experiencing someone ‘tuning in’ to us, getting us, choosing us and liking us, and letting us grow and eventually letting us leave.

We speak about ‘hurt in the attachment’ when primary caregivers are not reliable, not kind, frightened themselves, and/or neglectful, and/or abusive, or one day attentive and the next day neglectful/abusive. This hurt shapes us deeply as human beings and we form different habits in our relationship patterns to ‘protects’ us from further hurt.

“One role of a therapist is to bring awareness to the client’s attachment patterns
and then intentionally help create new pathways for clients to take, as they unlearn
their long-established habits”. Alan Sroufe & Daniel Siegel, 2011

This professional development training was developed to further
your understanding, knowledge and skills for working therapeutically with your
client’s trauma-related hurt in their attachment.

We will look at the contributing factors in the development which lead to hurt in your client’s attachment. We will explore different relational patterns and corresponding attachment strategies.

Together we will look at why the therapeutic relationship might be perceived or experienced as dangerous. We will explore how our client behaviours might leave us feeling confused and destabilised.

The training will help you to develop awareness and open curiosity towards your own attachment patterns, and your reactions to your client’s attachment needs.

We will bring perspectives to questions such as why change might be unsettling, and why empathic responses can feel so threatening to some of our clients. We will look at ways of working with relational habits of push and pull, withdrawal, anger, and how we can best respond to these protective attachment strategies.

“Trauma is a chronic disruption of connectedness” Stephen Porges

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Greater Manchester Rape Crisis, 73 Ardwick Green North, Manchester, United Kingdom