Taught by: Deborah Gray, MSW, MPA-$275.00 per 2-day session
This small, masters class is designed for the clinician who wants to develop a specialty in treating the attachment/trauma issues of children. This program will prepare or increase the skills of the clinician whose cases are attachment, loss and trauma-focused. The program will be phased:
Phase I:
One Friday and Saturday, January through March, of in-depth instruction. 36 hours/CEUs
Phase II:
One Friday and Saturday, April through June of practice-supporting, therapeutic mentoring, with tapes, analysis, and emphasis on therapy skill development. 33 hours/CEUs
Attachment-Focused Therapy Certificate awarded-June, 2010
Who may Apply:
Individuals who have completed, or who are close to completing the Post-Graduate Foster Care and Adoption Therapy Certificate Programs. Others may apply but will have to be approved by the instructor.
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Phase I:
Day 1, January 22, 6 CEUs
This day will begin the series with a discussion of attachment along the life span. Ways in which support or stress influence those attachments will be discussed. Participants will analyze ways that individuals (parents and children) demonstrate their beliefs about attachments; their expression of their needs; their reactions when needs are not met; their reactions to attempts to repair attachment disruptions.
Day 2, January 23, 6 CEUs
Therapist enter attachment-focused therapy with their subjective ideas about attachment. These influence their work with parents and children. This day will include exercises in which the class members will individually and collectively explore their own concepts of family attachments.
Attendees will come to understand what they bring into attachment-focused therapy. They will identify strengths that they have as a therapist and particular family situations in which they might excel. They will also develop awareness of types of situations in which they might lose helpful objectivity.
The ways in which the attachment literature leans to or away from its support of children or their parents will be discussed during this session. The day will conclude with an exercise in which each therapist will develop a plan for the support and practice balance needed to do attachment-focused therapy.
Day 3, February 19, 6 CEUs
This day will look at methods to enhance the positive, affect-regulating potential of attachment. The therapists' and parent(s)' dynamic contributions to children's affect regulation and emotional attunement will be described in a series of cases and case examples. The marriage between affect and attachment will continue to be discussed. Ample descriptions of attachment and attunement-producing skills will be described.
Participants will view, analyze and discuss therapy tapes as they apply their skills and understanding of affect and attachment.
The class will also discuss when affect is altered by other issues unrelated to attachment, but influencing of close family relationships.
This day will include when to refer, and to whom referrals should be made, for addtional assessment and treatment.
Day 4, February 20, 6 CEUs
The morning will begin with an inventory of the therapists' abilities to regulate their own affect-as well as the ways that a therpists' intermittent lack of attunement will activate clients, but may be discussed in helpful ways in therapy sessions.
Participants will script and practice ways to describe attachment-producing repair between therapist and clients. The therapist will also identify ways in which they distance from their clients and their client's dysregulation.
The afternoon will shift into the use of attachment systems to help in sexual abuse treatment. This will be a continuing discussion into day 5. (Participants will apply their morning skills on affect regulation in discusion of the trauma material.)
The participants will review a model of family attachment-oriented work for treatment of children's sexual abuse.
Day 5 and 6, March 26-27, 6 CEUs
These days will focus on complex cases in which children exhibit trauma and attachment problems. The therapist will discuss treatment, using a family attachment model for: sexual abuse; severe neglect, parental abuse; orphanage abuse/neglect, and multiple moves between families.
Therapists will design treatment models and discuss video tapes of cases.
Day 6, March 27, 6 CEUs
Therapists will take turns through role play-opening sessions, creating treatment plans in front of "parents" and children, and talking to children about their attachments. The participants' role play will occur in a therapy room equipped with play therapy materials for therapist who will be treating yound children.
Phase 2:
Day 7 and 8, April 23-24, 6 CEUs each day
Therapists will select areas of concentration in their clientele. They will plan cases, either currently in their practice or future sample cases, that will be selected to meet the experiential learning goals of the class. Individuals will select 2-3 peer partners within the class who have similar learning goals and/or who have physical proximity to their practices. Therapeutic caseworkers will define their areas of practice, as well, and the methods that they will use in their psycho-educational practices.
Therapists will spend time examining any practice issues that will be part of the Phase 2 hands-on cases. Therapists who are anticipating a change in practice to a more attachment-focused practice will participate in a practical discussion to help them plan for: a particular type of office space, marketing assistance, insurance panel coverage, networking and special supplies.
Therapists who need help in obtaining cases for the class will be assisted. Sample release forms for videotaping will be distributed. Therapists will sign up to present twice in the next three class days, as they present their cases at least twice.
Day 9, May 21, 6 CEUs
Therapists will bring in cases, through videotape and description, presenting their cases for analysis. Their goals, process, and case planning will be discussed.
Day 10, May 22, 6 CEU
Therapists will again bring in cases, through videotape and description, presenting their cases for analysis. Their goals, process, and case planning will be discussed. Additionally literature that is particularly relevant to the cases will be brought in by the instructor and discussed.
Day 11, June 12, 9 CEUs
In this final day, the last series of cases will be analyzed. Practice goals, with necessary connections in the community in order to meet those goals, will be made for all participants.
The day will conclude with dinner and the award of the Attachment-Focused Therapy Certificate!
