Attachment Foundations for Therapists
Presented by Jo Bealey
A practical introduction to attachment theory and how our earliest relationships shape connection, emotional regulation and what we bring into the therapy room.
Live online | 4 hours | 5 ACA OPD points
Attachment Foundations for Therapists is a four-hour attachment theory training workshop for counsellors, psychologists, psychotherapists and mental health professionals. It introduces the foundations of attachment theory and explores how early relationships, attachment strategies, internal working models, attunement and affect regulation can inform therapeutic practice and the therapeutic relationship.
Attachment theory is often taught as a set of attachment styles. But recognising the labels is very different from knowing what attachment can help us understand about the person sitting in front of us.
We’ll think about why some of us reach for connection when we feel unsafe, while others pull away. Why needing someone can feel reassuring for one person and deeply uncomfortable for another. And why behaviours that can be difficult to understand often make much more sense when we begin to see what they may be protecting.
Most importantly, we’ll keep bringing it back to the therapy room.
This isn’t about becoming better at labelling attachment styles. It’s about beginning to look beneath the behaviour, becoming more curious about what might be happening relationally and seeing your clients through a different lens.
If you know attachment theory but sometimes wonder how it actually helps you understand your clients, this is where we start.
What participants will explore
I would keep this relatively short on the actual page rather than giving them a huge curriculum list:
- The foundations and development of attachment theory
- Bowlby, Ainsworth and the Strange Situation
- Secure base, safe haven and attachment behaviour
- Secure and insecure attachment strategies
- Bonding, attunement and early relational experience
- Internal working models and relational expectations
- Mind-mindedness and affect regulation
- How early attachment experiences can influence adult relationships
- The therapeutic relationship through an attachment lens
- Earned security and the potential for new relational experiences in therapy