WHY DOES ATTACHMENT MATTER?

Somatic Attachment therapy involves the way in which a person forms intimate bonds with themselves (embodiment), with other people, and the environment. These bonds form the supportive foundation to be adaptive, learn and grow from new experiences, and flourish in one's goals and relationships. When there has been a consistent presence and the felt sense of connection and safety this forms a secure relational attachment. A secure attachment provides an intrinsic feeling of safety, acceptance, and belonging; it becomes the bedrock, or foundational experience, from which a person can more easily grow and thrive.

However, when there has been an absence or interruption of that bond, an insecure attachment forms. This attachment trauma is wired into the nervous system in the form of our responses and reactivity to our environment and particularly our relationships within it . And we carry this pain throughout life. The adaptive strategies we form in response shapes our capacity to regulate our nervous system and emotional states. It also informs the way we interpret incoming information, and how we come to understand ourselves, the world around us, and the relationships we have.

In other words, our early attachment experience is acting itself out in our daily life, replaying in our relationships, our jobs, how we respond to stress, and even the way we treat ourselves and other people.

Relationships can inspire our deepest sense of connection, joy and belonging--both to ourselves and others. They can also provoke our deepest insecurities, pains, and disconnection. Bringing an embodied understanding and awareness to attachment trauma transforms these early wounds, creating an empathic relationship with ourselves and others. This acquired secure attachment empowers us to live a life where our early attachment trauma doesn't define who we are or control our future relationships. Somatic attachment therapy is not just about healing what went wrong, it's also about nurturing the skills to deepen what is going right.

WHAT IS ATTACHMENT TRAUMA?

A holistic approach to trauma defines attachment injury/wounding not as an event or a challenged relationship, but rather as a disruption and overwhelm to our body-mind’s capacity to feel safe, secure, cared for, and consistently connected with.

Attachment trauma may be less visible than other traumatic experiences. Our adaptive strategies for managing the trauma are deeply embedded in our adult lives, manifesting as patterns in our physiology, thoughts, behavior, and interactions with other people and our environment. Attachment trauma might emerge in early childhood, adolescence or in our adult life as symptoms of anxiety, depression numbness, disconnection, defensiveness, or a sense that parts of your Self are numb, hidden, fractured, or inaccessible.

Attachment Trauma (wounding) can occur:

• In the womb in response to the parents' physiology, specifically their capacity to regulate/ adapt to stressors in their life.
  
• During crucial stages of a child's development where there is an absence or inconsistent experience of being attended to, attuned to, co-regulated with, or the child’s needs not being responded to.
  
• Transgenerationally passed down.
  
• From the loss of a loved one.
  
• When our primal protective instincts, intuitions, and responses are thwarted.
  
• When relational bonds have been ruptured and there is not enough time, space, or capacity to heal/ repair the rupture.
  
• When there is too much stimulus too soon- in the hospital, home, environment, or socal-cultural setting.
  
• Other traumas that break the vital connection.
  

The effects of Attachment Trauma may include:

• Physical symptoms such as tightness in the body, muscle tension, constrictions around the breath.
  
• Emotional symptoms such as flatness / inability to feel, impulsivity, fear, anxiety, panic, depression, overwhelm, loss of choice, difficulty feeling comforted, anger, and shame. Challenge identifying or expressing feelings and needs.
  
• Psychological symptoms such as dissociation, mental rumination, low self worth, rigid or loose boundaries, negative self talk, self blame, depression, challenges in actioning goals, and loss of joy.
  
• Relational / social symptoms such as isolation, loneliness, avoidance, lack of fulfillment, unintentional attraction to red flags, challenges with communication, trust and intimacy.
  

Attachment Trauma can lead to feelings of powerlessness, helplessness, and groundlessness. The wounds from our past are embedded in our present. It interferes with our ability to feel secure in body and mind, it disrupts our very sense of existence, and takes us away from the present moment, and challenges our ability to form and maintain our ideal relationships.

However, as Dr. Scott Lyons, founder of The Embody Lab says “Our basic blueprint as humans is connection and bonding- sometimes we just need the right support at the right time to find our way back home.

Symptoms are the gateway to healing attachment trauma. Our job as practitioners and educators is to listen and follow the wisdom for healing encoded in the body.

ON-DEMAND PROGRAM DETAILS

HOMEWORK

LEARNING PLATFORM FORMAT

ONLINE LEARNING PLATFORM: The online learning platform hosts all the information about the course including:

• The individual session recordings available to watch on-demand
• Supporting materials such as PDFs of the reading material and presentations

ACCESSIBILITY

VIDEO / AUDIO: Within the online learning platform, students may watch the video within their online library or download the video or audio to their computer. They will have lifetime access to the content.

LIVE CAPTIONING / TRANSCRIPTS: Captioning was only available during the live sessions. Transcripts are available in English.

READING LISTS:
• Required readings will be available freely online or in PDF format.
• Recommended readings are optional and for futher exploration. They may include books, online articles etc.
• PDFs of the instructor’s presentation will also be provided.

CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION

Below are the requirements to receive the Certificate of Completion:
• Watch all the recordings.
• Complete the Self Evaluation.
• Submit full payment.

REGISTRATION / ENROLLMENT / TUITION

Enroll for the certificate program by choosing one of the three payment options below. Once you register, you will receive a welcome email with all the details on how to access the certificate program.