This workshop will explore the possibility that there is a more pure experience of the self as being effective and agentic (sense of agency) that underlies adaptive action tendencies associated with many emotions we process in AEDP. We will explore in more detail the difference between maladaptive and adaptive core affective experiences and look at them in the context of development (in the negotiation of autonomy vs. shame) and AEDP concepts of Self-at-Best and Self-at-Worst as well as the Self-in-Transition. These questions will be examined in light of resilience, defined in AEDP as the self’s being on behalf of itself in either conservative or transformative ways and the possibility that sometimes something other than safety is required to help people move from self-protection to self-actualization.

Related to the above but slightly separate will be an exploration of the potential down sides of the now widely used trauma lens to understanding psychopathology. How much do we potentially undermine and underestimate people’s strength and capacities by an over-focus on trauma? The application of Attachment Theory and studies of mother-infant caregiving to psychotherapeutic encounters has emphasized the role of attuned responsiveness and empathy in the therapeutic relationship. But attachment and parenting look different with older children. Is it possible that our compassion can contribute to people remaining stuck? In this context we will look at parent-toddler secure attachment relationships and what they tell us about the importance of boundaries, autonomous exploration, and expectations to the healthy development of a secure self.

Finally, we will discuss instances in which two fundamentals of AEDP – empathy and authenticity- conflict and what we do in those situations.

Videotapes of actual sessions will be used to illustrate work with these issues. There will be ample time for discussion around these emergent issues in AEDP practice and participants’ sharing of clinical examples from their own work will be welcomed.