When Unresolved Attachment Trauma Is the Problem: Working with Avoidant and Disorganized Clients

CPD

Speaker

Diane Poole-Heller, PhD Related seminars and products

Trauma Solutions

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Diane Poole Heller, Ph.D., is an internationally-recognized speaker, author, and expert in the field of attachment theory and trauma resolution. She developed a signature series on adult attachment called DARe (Dynamic Attachment Re-patterning experience), that facilitates more fulfilling adult relationships.

In 1989, she began working with Dr. Peter Levine, teaching for 25 years for SEI.

She's authored 3 books: Crash Course, on auto accident trauma; Healing Your Attachment Wounds: How to Create Deep and Lasting Relationships; and The Power of Attachment: How to Create Deep and Lasting Intimate Relationships. Her film, "Surviving Columbine," supported community healing after the Columbine High School shootings.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Diane Poole Heller has an employment relationship with Trauma Solutions. She is a published author and receives royalties. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Diane Poole has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Outline

1.Therapeutic Presence

a.Advantages

b.Disadvantages

2.The Role of family in Attachment Style Development

3.Styles of Attachment

a.Secure

b.Avoidant

c.Ambivalent

d.Disorganized

4.Defining Secure Attachment

a.Tone of Voice

b.Safety

c.Protection

d.Humor

e.Relaxation

f.Self-Regulation

5.Secure Attachment Strategies

a.Repairing Mis-attunements

b.Repair Rituals

c.Secure Priming

d.Synaptic Sculpting

e.Kind Eyes Exercise

f.Affect Modulation

g.Regulating the Nervous System

h.Reversing the Freeze Response

i.Somatic Strategies (D.A.R.e.)

6.Neuroscience & Neuroplasticity

a.The science of what helps us connect

b.The Fluidity of Memory

c.Impact of Abuse on the brain

7.Being sensitive to client cues

a.Nonverbal cues

b.Relational cues

c.Somatic cues

8.Sadistic Abuse

9.Trauma Resolution

10.Video Vignettes of Complex Trauma Treatment

Objectives

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

Target Audience

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