On Becoming Secure: Adult Attachment in Couple Relationships – Angela Dierks

This training session is aimed at couples’ therapists who are not currently working with attachment theory or at therapists who would like to work with the client’s relationship in mind. In addition, it is hoped that the session will give you an insight into your own attachment style and behaviour in intimate relationships.

Attachment Theory offers a valuable framework for the conceptualisation and exploration of working with couples in therapy; it is both focused on the individual as well as the couple system and enables partners to gain insight into their intrapsychic as well as interpsychic representation of the world and of relationships. Insight can enable behavioural change. Couples who develop ‘mind mindedness’ (Meins, 1999) are more competent at understanding their partner’s needs and can decide whether to respond accordingly. Read More

Learning Objectives

By the end of the training session participants will be able:

– To give an overview of attachment theory and its relevance in understanding couple relationships
– To describe the presentation and impact of an insecure attachment style
– To relay patterns of relating in romantic relationships: secure/secure, insecure/secure, insecure/insecure
– To consider the communication needs of the partners with different attachment styles
– To consider the different stages and goals of working with attachment styles in romantic relationships

About the Speaker

Angela is a London based, BACP accredited integrative counsellor and psychotherapist, couple’s therapist and clinical supervisor. Angela holds an MA Integrative Counselling, Diploma in Couples Counselling and Psychotherapy and a Diploma in Clinical Supervision. Previously Angela gained an MSt (Oxon) in European Literature. She is a lecturer on the MSc in Integrative Counselling and Coaching at the University of East London (UEL) where she is module leader for the counselling application module of the course. Angela has previously worked as a student counsellor at UEL. When not working with clients, Angela is a passionate, abstract gestural artist.

Angela works with a wide range of clients and presentation in her private practice. Her particular interest is to work integratively on all aspects of being in relationships. To this end she co-designed an online course, The Relationship Maze, which draws on a range of therapeutic modalities including attachment theory, Transactional Analysis, Systems Theory, NLP, CBT and Gestalt. Angela can be heard in the weekly podcast The Relationship Maze where we discuss ways of addressing different presentations and challenges in relationships, for example managing differing levels of differentiation, loneliness and isolation, hope, stress and polyvagal theory, managing projections or dealing with conflict.

Details

Outline of topics covered in the webinar:

Overview of attachment theory, including attachment styles, mentalisation, attunement and affect regulation – plenary and pair work
Adult Attachment: application of Bowlby’s and Ainsworth’s model to adults; similarities between child and adult attachment systems. The impact of insecure attachment onto the couple system – plenary
Vignettes: couple dynamics in different combinations of attachment styles – groups of 4
The couple’s communication needs- pair work and plenary
Stages of work, interventions and considerations – plenary

CPD/CE

CPD & CE credits available: 6

How do I receive these credits? The participant must pass the multiple-choice test with a minimum score of 80%. There is a maximum of three attempts to achieve this. The post-test is included in the price of the training.

Does my regulatory body accept the credits? The CPD & CE credits awarded can be used towards your declaration to any governing regulatory body in your state or country, provided the content is relevant to your discipline.

Our trainings are accredited by:

– The CPD Group, London

– Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association

– Australian Counselling Association