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Course Information

ASM: Navigating AEDP’s Experiential-Attachment Work in the Context of Trauma, Dissociation and Multiplicity- LIVE ONLINE

Complex attachment trauma can sever and/or inhibit the formation of deep and lasting bonds between self and other, self and self, self and emotion. The practice of AEDP includes key elements to foster the healing of trauma, the integration of dissociative parts and the rekindling of deep, trusting relationships. We will explore, in depth, these elements, such as the explicit use of relational interventions to build safety and containment, dyadic regulation of intense traumatic affects of fear, shame, and overwhelm, as well as reconnection to healing emotion via processing of core affect – all in the context of patients with severe trauma histories and dissociative disorders. We will also view these cases through the lens of intra-relational interventions, which place dual emphasis on internal attachment relationships formed through affective interchanges between distinct parts of the self, and on the intrinsic healing power of new emotional experiences. Parallel relational processes unfolding simultaneously within the external dyad (i.e. therapist/client) and internal dyads (i.e. client/dissociated ego-states) facilitates and accelerates the internalization of secure attachment dynamics. Strengthening these connections instills safety and containment which, in turn, segueways into transformative affect work and deep processing of traumatic memories.

Furthermore, we will hone more advanced applications of AEDP with complex trauma survivors by examining questions such as: How do we navigate deep emotional processing with patients who have tendency to fall into traumatic flashbacks? How to forge a secure attachment with someone who has never been securely attached to anyone? How to reconcile emotion-focused, experiential therapy goals with some complex trauma survivors’ view of emotions as traumatizing? How can AEDP be applied to working with patients who have more severe spectrum dissociative disorders?

 

Presenter

Kari Gleiser, Ph.D.
 

Course Objectives

  • Apply AEDP key elements to foster the healing of trauma, and the integration of dissociative parts.
  • Recognize signs of Dissociative Identity Disorder and adapt AEDP interventions to work with this diagnosis.
  • Demonstrate competency in working with the intra-relational triangle to craft relational clinical interventions.
  • Identify and mitigate risks in applying AEDP to complex trauma and dissociative disorders.
  • Demonstrate explicit use of relational interventions with different parts of the self of the patient.
  • Formulate intra-relational interventions for building secure internal attachment.
  • Develop connection that instills safety and containment and forges secure attachment with patients who have never been securely attached to anyone.
  • Relate how to navigate deep emotional processing with patients who have tendency to fall into traumatic flashbacks.
 

Agenda

Day 1 Agenda

9:00 – 9:30 AM Course Overview and Orientation

9:30 – 11:00 AM Didactic on applying AEDP to Complex trauma and dissociative disorders, using Intra-relational interventions

11:00 –11:15  Break

11:15 – 12:30. Videotaped session on working with AEDP in the context of complex trauma and Dissociative Identity Disorder

12:30 – 1:30. Lunch

1:30 – 2:00. Introduction to participant roles and the experiential exercises

2:00 – 3:00. Small group experiential exercises

3:00 – 3:15. Break

3:15-4:30. Small group experiential exercises

4:30 – 5:00. Large group Q&A and Closure


Day 2

9:00 – 9:30 AM. Course Overview, Morning reflections and Q&A

9:30 – 11:00 AM. Recognizing, diagnosing and treating Dissociative Identity Disorder and DDNOS through the lens of AEDP

11:00 – 11:15 AM Break

11:15 AM – 12:30 PM. Clinical Videotape and/or Live Demo

12:30 – 1:30 PM. Lunch

1:30 – 2:00 PM  Follow-up about participant roles and intro to experiential exercise

2:00 – 3:00 PM Small group experiential exercises  

3:00 – 3:15 PM Break

3:15-4:30 PM. Small group experiential exercises

4:30 – 5:00 PM Large group Q&A and Closure 

 

Bibliography

Gleiser, K. (2020, in press). Relational prisms: Navigating experiential-attachment work with dissociation and multiplicity in AEDP. In D. Fosha (Ed.) AEDP 2.0: Undoing aloneness and the transformation of emotional suffering into flourishing. Washington, DC: APA (American Psychological Association). 

Ford, J. D. & Courtois, C. A. (2020). Treating Complex Traumatic Stress Disorders in Adults, Second Edition: Scientific Foundations and Therapeutic Models. The Guilford Press.

Fosha, D. (2017). How to be a Transformational Therapist: AEDP Harnesses Innate Healing Affects to Re-wire Experience and Accelerate Transformation. In J. Loizzo, M. Neale & E. Wolf, (Eds). Advances in Contemplative Psychotherapy: Accelerating Transformation. Chapter 14 (pp.204-219). New York: Norton. 

Brand, B. L., Sar, V., Stavropoulos, P., Krüger, C., Korzekwa, M., Martínez-Taboas, A., & Middleton, W. (2016). Separating fact from fiction: An empirical examination of six myths about dissociative identity disorder. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 24(4), 257–270.

Fosha, D. (2013). A heaven in a wild flower: self, dissociation, and treatment in the context of the neurobiological core self. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 33, 496-523.

Fosha, D., Paivio, S. C., Gleiser, K. & Ford, J. (2009). Experiential and emotion-focused therapy. In C. Courtois & J. D. Ford (Eds.), Complex Traumatic Stress Disorders: An Evidence-Based Clinician’s Guide. Chapter 14,  pp. 286-311. New York: Guilford Press.

Lamagna, J. (2011). Of the Self, by the Self, and for the Self: An Intra-relational Perspective on Intra-psychic Attunement and Psychological Change. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration. 21 (3), 280–307.

Lamagna, J., & Gleiser, K. (2007). Building a secure internal attachment: An intra-relational approach to ego strengthening and emotional processing with chronically traumatized clients. Journal of Trauma and Dissociation. 8 (1), 25-52.