Frightening Attachment Figures
The Development of the Self Under Threat
NOW CLOSED
Friday 22 July 2022
A live webinar with Orit Badouk Epstein
CE Credits: 3 hours
- This event will not be recorded
- Bookings close at 4am EDT Tuesday 19 July
When faced with a client who arrives to a session feeling depressed, confrontational, or suicidal, the therapist can have a deep sense of helplessness that mirrors something of their state of mind of being defeated and hopeless. The tasks of living, that may seem ordinary to the untraumatized and secure person, can be fraught with difficulty for someone who lacked a safe development journey in childhood because their parents were frightening or dangerous. They often suffer from complex trauma.
READ MORE...Main and Solomon (1986) first identified fear and the feared object as an important factor as an obstruction to the child’s attachment needs. Working these research findings into what they later called Disorganised Attachment, has given us the framework to see how dominant is the role of fear in clients with complex trauma facing profound difficulties in managing critical areas in their relationships and everyday life.
Some of these individuals were deemed as not being suitable for therapy. Using these insights in the therapeutic relationship requires clinical skill, and the purpose of this workshop is to further professional understanding of the ongoing impact of the client’s attachment trauma as it is displayed in their adaptation to survival. In deepening the understanding of the nature of attachment dynamics invoked in the client – and indeed the therapist – participants will gain understanding of the disorganised attachment state of mind, trauma and dissociative processes. Orit will demonstrate relational ways to facilitate the challenges of working with clients with complex trauma and the move towards synthesis of traumatised self-states, interpersonal relatedness, and a growing sense of earned security.
FULL PROGRAMME
09.00 EDT
Introductions
09.10
Developmental Trauma: An overview on what constitutes secure and insecure attachment
In this presentation we will see how the formation of our attachment bonds with a primary caregiver leads to the organisation of a coherent and organised self-state, while a frightening and unpredictable environment results in the disorganisation of the self and a collapse of adaptive strategies.
09.40
Q&A
10.00
Break
10.20
Complex Trauma and Dissociation
The combination of childhood emotional, physical, or sexual abuse, and intergenerational transmission of trauma, often results in dissociation and the fragmentation of the self. We will consider how finding empathic words and metaphors that describe self-states can contribute to the client’s reorganisation of self.
10.50
Q&A
11.10
Break
11.30
Case Presentation
Bringing together the three strands of , trauma, disorganised attachment and dissociation in a case study of a client who suffered extensive abuse we will see how that led to the colonisation of her body and mind and the fragmentation of the self. Her attachment to her “scaregivers” (Badouk Epstein, 2015) and her attachment cries meant that she suffered regular suicidal ideation, eating disorders and other forms of self-harm. This was complicated by a constant wish to return to the scene of the abuse. The relational journey embarked upon involved the therapist sitting with the dissociated unknown, facilitating a polyphonic dialogue between her dissociated parts. Gradually this enabled the client to establish relational safety, improve functioning and self-regulation, and reduce her suicidal ideation all leading to develop the coherence needed for the emancipation of her imprisoned body and mind.
12.35
Q&A
13.00
End
FEES (USD)
Bookings close at 4:00am EDT Tuesday 19 July
Live Webinar:
$96 (Member $48)
(Click here to become a member)
This event will not be recorded.
CE
This event is accredited by:
- NBCC
Certificates of attendance for 3 hours will be provided.
To receive the full CE credits, you are required to attend 100% of the live event. No partial credit will be given.
This event is NOT accredited by the following organisations:
- ASWB
- NYSED (Psychology)
- NYSED (Psychoanalysis)
- NYSED (Social Workers)
Please note, that this event is not being recorded and no CE test post event will be available and so you will need to attend all of the live event to receive the CE certificate.
Please contact events@conferonline.org for any further questions.
Confer has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7136. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Confer is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
VENUE
This is a live online webinar using Zoom software. Zoom is free to download and use.
For more information about Zoom click here.
To download Zoom free of charge click here.
For special accommodations for individuals with disabilities see our FAQs.
SCHEDULE
Friday
09.00 EDT Introductions
09.10 Developmental Trauma: An overview on what constitutes secure and insecure attachment
09.40 Q&A
10.00 Break
10.20 Complex Trauma and issociation
10.50 Q&A
11.10 Break
11.30 Case Presentation
12.35 Q&A
13.00 End
CONTENT LEVEL
- Intermediate
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- Outline the link between the presence of a ‘scaregiver’ and disorganised attachment.
- Develop skills to facilitate moving towards a synthesis of traumatised self-states.
- Explain ‘earned security’ as a newly acquired sense of secure attachment.
- Describe the connections between disorganised attachment and dissociation.
TARGET
AUDIENCE
- Psychologists
- Counselors
- Social Workers
- Psychotherapists
- Addiction Professionals
- Marriage and Family Therapists
- Psychiatrists
- Other related mental health professions.
BOOKING CONDITIONS
Regrettably, refunds cannot be given in any circumstances except as follows:
- You cancel in writing to info@conferonline.org 60 days before the first date of the event you have booked, in which case you will be entitled to a 100% refund.
- You cancel in writing to info@conferonline.org 30 days before the first date of the event you have booked, in which case you will be entitled to a 50% refund.
This does not apply to parts of an event such as a seminar within a series but only to a whole event or complete series. You may give your place to another person if you let us know that person's name at least 24 hours before the event begins.
We reserve the right to change a speaker at one of our conferences without offering a refund. However, if a solo presenter cancels we will offer a full refund OR transfer of your fee to another Confer event. If the entire event is canceled we will offer you a full refund.
We reserve the right to change our prices at any time. Regrettably, discounts offered after you made your booking cannot be claimed or applied retrospectively.