Description

Attachment research has revolutionized our understanding of human development, the internal world, and the consequences of development gone awry. Above al,l the research demonstrates that we become who we are in the context of our original attachment relationships—and here the influences that first shape us are nonverbal and implicit. The research also shows how the psychology of the attachment figure becomes, in effect, the psychology of the developing child: security in the parent begets security in the child, insecurity begets insecurity, and trauma begets trauma.

And just as surely as the parent’s psychology shapes parenting, the psychology of the therapist shapes therapy. Within an attachment framework, in particular, psychotherapy is essentially a process of transformation through relationship—and relationships take two. Therefore, attending to the impact of who we are as people on what we do as therapists is always of paramount importance. Corrective relational experience, work with enactments of transference-countertransference, the therapist’s self-revelation, the therapist’s own growth and change as a catalyst for growth and change in the patient—these and more are aspects of psychotherapy as relational transformation. Within this framework, it is always who we are and who we can become—not our techniques or theories—that determines our effectiveness in creating relationships with our patients that are genuinely therapeutic.

In his acclaimed book, David Wallin spelled out the implications of integrating attachment research with neuroscience, relational psychoanalysis, mindfulness, and a focus on the body to help clinicians become more effective facilitators of growth and healing. Now in his latest workshop, he deepens the focus on work within the relationship as the primary therapeutic intervention. Illustrating his approach with vivid case material and video examples, Wallin illuminates a way of being a therapist in which we aim to know ourselves as part of the process of trying to know our patients. Working in this way, our professional path can also be a personal journey of discovery that has the potential to deepen and enliven the experience not only of the patient but of the therapist as well.

To purchase the book click here