Attachment, the Nervous System & Protective Strategies

Attachment, the Nervous System & Protective Strategies is a 4-hour live online professional development workshop for counsellors, psychotherapists, psychologists and mental health practitioners. The workshop explores how attachment experiences, emotional arousal and nervous-system responses can influence behaviour and relationships. Topics include fight, flight and freeze responses, trauma and memory, attachment and regulation, co-regulation, relational safety and the implications for therapeutic practice. The training is delivered by Optima Attachment Training and provides 5 ACA OPD points.

Attachment, the Nervous System & Protective Strategies

Sometimes a client’s response can seem much bigger than the situation in front of them.

They may become highly anxious, shut down, disconnect, become intensely alert to changes in the relationship or find it difficult to think clearly once they feel threatened.

It can be tempting to focus only on the behaviour we can see.

Attachment-informed practice invites us to become curious about what may be happening underneath it.

We will look at how early relational experiences contribute to developing capacities for regulation and how experiences of safety, threat and connection can influence the way a person responds to stress.

The workshop explores familiar protective responses such as fight, flight and freeze, while moving beyond simply identifying a nervous-system state. Instead, we will consider what the response may be protecting, what might have activated it and what the client may need from the therapeutic relationship in that moment.

The workshop explores how threat can affect memory and the ability to place experiences in the past, including the way traumatic experiences may remain connected with bodily sensations and become reactivated by reminders in the present. It also considers the relationship between attachment experiences, arousal and developing capacities for self-regulation.

Throughout the workshop, we bring these ideas back into the therapy room.

We will also think about our own role.

Can we notice when a client’s nervous system is becoming activated without becoming overly focused on calming them down? Can we remain curious about what their response is communicating? And can the therapeutic relationship become somewhere that difficult emotional experiences can gradually be thought about, felt and integrated?

The final part of the workshop brings together body, emotion, memory and meaning, exploring how therapists can help clients connect present experience with what may have been learned or experienced previously. This reflects the existing training’s emphasis on bringing body sensations and thinking together and helping experience become more integrated.

During the workshop we will explore

• attachment, early relationships and developing capacities for regulation
• how experiences of safety and threat affect emotional arousal
• the nervous system and protective responses
• fight, flight and freeze
• what can happen to thinking and reflection when arousal becomes high
• trauma, memory and why the past can sometimes feel present
• how attachment experiences may shape responses to stress
• co-regulation and the development of self-regulation
• the importance of attunement and relational safety
• recognising protective responses without pathologising the client
• how the therapeutic relationship can support regulation and integration
• what all of this means for everyday clinical practice

Who is this workshop for?

This workshop is designed for counsellors, psychotherapists, psychologists and other mental health practitioners who want to understand more about the relationship between attachment, emotional regulation and protective responses.

It may be particularly useful if you work with clients who:

• become quickly overwhelmed
• shut down or disconnect when difficult material arises
• appear constantly alert to threat
• find it hard to regulate strong emotion
• experience trauma reminders in the present
• struggle to think or reflect once attachment fears are activated
• seem to move between heightened arousal and withdrawal

You don’t need an extensive knowledge of neuroscience.

The emphasis is on taking useful ideas about attachment, regulation and the nervous system and asking:

What does this help me understand about the person sitting in front of me?

Training details

Format: Live online
Duration: 4 hours
ACA OPD: 5 points
Provider: Optima Attachment Training

What is attachment and nervous system training?

Attachment and nervous system training helps therapists understand how early relational experiences, emotional arousal and experiences of safety or threat can influence the ways people regulate emotions, relate to others and respond under stress.

What protective responses are covered in the workshop?

The workshop considers responses including fight, flight and freeze and explores how protective responses can emerge when a person experiences threat or relational uncertainty.

Does the workshop cover trauma?

Yes. The workshop explores the relationship between attachment, trauma, emotional arousal and memory, including how past experiences can sometimes become activated in the present.

Is this a neuroscience course?

The workshop draws on ideas from neurobiology and attachment research, but it is designed for therapists rather than neuroscientists. The emphasis is on understanding what these ideas mean for therapeutic practice.

Will I learn about nervous system regulation?

Yes. The workshop considers the development of regulation, the role of relational experiences and how therapists can support regulation, reflection and safety within the therapeutic relationship.

Who is this workshop suitable for?

The workshop is designed for counsellors, psychotherapists, psychologists and other mental health professionals interested in attachment-informed and trauma-informed practice.

Is the workshop online?

Yes. It is delivered as a 4-hour live online workshop.

Does the workshop provide ACA OPD points?

Yes. Participants receive 5 ACA OPD points for completing the workshop.