Diane Poole Heller – When Unresolved Attachment Trauma Is the Problem: Working with Avoidant and Disorganized Clients

Many clients bring to therapy the remnants of attachment wounds experienced before they learned to speak, so talk therapy is often ineffective at getting to the root of early memories that can continue to roil emotions and disturb relationships. This workshop presents a unique approach to correcting insecure attachment through specific corrective experiences that address the emotional injuries they incurred in early life. Through experiential exercises and videos of client sessions, you’ll see the profound effect of DARe (Dynamic Attachment Re-Patterning Experience) work in action. You’ll focus on how to:

• Identify three different styles of troubled attachment with special emphasis on the avoidant and disorganized styles
• Recognize why some clients begin to dissociate once they’ve formed a positive attachment with the therapist and why empathy can backfire
• Enhance your skills for creating a safe haven and secure attachment bond by becoming more sensitive to clients’ nonverbal, relational, and somatic cues
• Increase your capacity for intersubjectivity and incorporating well-timed humor and playfulness in your style