When encountered in early life, terrifying or dangerous circumstances can contribute to a disorganized attachment adaptation. Children, and later on, adults may develop affect regulation issues including poor social skills, attention/learning/developmental deficits and/or a lack of coherency. In some cases, a person may become angry, aggressive with others or exhibit the same out-of-control/controlling, chaotic, scary or scared behaviors they experienced with their perpetrators.

The complex, wounding relationship that exists between victims and their perpetrators can present unique challenges for therapeutic professionals in clinical practice. For example, the intensity of an invasive sexual or violent encounter can create strong, disabling relational issues for victims––resulting in a loss of differentiation, a coupling of rage and powerlessness, or even a need to re-enact the victim and/or perpetrator identity.

As therapists, we need a practical, integrated, comprehensive and dynamic approach that can be used effectively (and consistently) to help clients address trauma and rediscover secure attachment...even with our most difficult cases.

In this 3-day live, online training, you will learn how attachment theory can be aligned and integrated with various clinical practices, perspectives and modalities to address the challenges of complex trauma--including disorganized attachment adaptations and victim-perpetrator abuse dynamics.

Through a blend of blend of didactic presentations, demonstrations and experiential exercises, you'll gain important therapeutic skills that help you and your clients alleviate unnecessary suffering, return to a sense of safety, promote empowerment and restore a connection to the self and others.

What will we cover?

• Discover how healing the power wound can allow clients to return to their core intactness as they rediscover and embody secure attachment.
• Learn how to work with power wounds by separating attachment needs from the need to self-protect.
• Learn how to identify and recognize both the primary and secondary attachment systems so you can use the relational field to excavate a healthy relational matrix and create empowerment, trust, protection, safety, connection and clarity in a therapeutic setting.
• See and practice corrective experiences and learn how to install the Protective Ally and Competent Protector.
• Learn how to reverse immobilization and a need for dissociation, including how to reintroduce threat safely without triggering additional responses.
• Deepen your understanding of boundary rupture and repair, so you can restore a sense of safety in the relational field.
• Explore how to work with victim-perpetrator dynamics and help disorganized attachment adaptations recover from the devastation of abuse.