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ForwardEmbodied Relational Imagery for Meta-Relational Healing of Adult Attachment Insecurity
Abstract
Effective treatments for adult attachment insecurity include recognition of the vital role of the felt sense of being empathically attuned to by important others. As psychotherapists, we try our best to be attuned and accurately contingently responsive, and to express and mirror qualities of being that help patients to feel protected and cared for, seen and known, valued and valuable, and appreciated and lovable and loved. Though this 'therapist as good attachment figure' (TAGAF) approach can be very helpful, there are practical and conceptual limitations to this mode of treatment. For example, a practical limitation is that a therapist cannot engage in physical cuddling with patients. If as a child a patient was rebuffed when seeking physical contact, the stricture against such contact in the therapy may reinforce the experience of rejection and the belief that nurturing contact needs cannot be met.
A conceptual limitation of the TAGAF approach has to do with the internal working models of early attachment experience. Insecure adult patients carry internal working models of themselves as children being in some form of problematic relationship with their parents or primary caregivers. A new and positive adult relationship with a psychotherapist is certainly beneficial, but it is unlikely to most efficiently change the original problematic internal working model of child-and-adult experience.
To remedy these and other limitations, imagined “ideal parent figures” can be part of the therapeutic process toward attachment security, integrated as a complement to the TAGAF approach. When an adult patient, in the context of a safe and attuned therapeutic relationship, feels to be a young child and experiences interacting with imagined parents who embody all the qualities of being and behavior that feel just right to the patient-as-child, the original problematic internal working model becomes more efficiently replaced by a new, positive, secure attachment relationship model of a foundational attachment relationship.
This approach is consistent with and complementary to the principles and implications of several other therapeutic approaches, including memory reconsolidation, AEDP, and body-oriented psychotherapies.
In addition to presentation of the context, principles, and practices of this use of embodied relational imagery of child-self-with-just-right-parent figures, video excerpts of a session demonstrating this approach will be included.
Potential to Distress: No
Target Audience
Intermediate
Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of this presentation, participants will be able to:
- List the 'Three Pillars' of adult attachment repair
- Identify four clinical advantages of including embodied relational imagery in treatment for resolving attachment insecurity in adults
- Describe and explain the rationale for each step of the 'Ideal Parent Figure' imagery process
- Explain the inter-dynamic relationship among the Three Pillars of attachment repair
- List three indications of positive outcomes of the embodied relational imagery process
David S. Elliott, PhD
Dr. Elliott received his Ph.D. in Psychology in 1989 from Harvard University. His training while at Harvard included a clinical psychology internship at McLean Hospital. He also completed a post-doctoral fellowship at McLean, focused at the hospital's Adolescent and Family Treatment Unit. He was licensed as a Psychologist in Massachusetts in 1990, and in Rhode Island in 1993.
He has had leadership roles in several professional organizations. He was President of the Rhode Island Psychological Association for a two-year term. Prior to that he was Chair of the Coalition of Mental Health Professionals of Rhode Island (COMHPRI), also for two years. Both organizations advocate for availability and wide access to high quality and affordable mental health services.
Since 1998 Dr. Elliott has been on the faculty of and teaches annually at the International School for Psychotherapy, Counseling, and Group Leadership, in St. Petersburg, Russia. Currently he is Chair of this program's International Advisory Board. He is also on the Faculty of the Psykosyntes Akademin (Psychosynthesis Academy) in Stockholm, Sweden, where he teaches about attachment and psychotherapy to advanced level students.
Dr. Elliott worked closely with Daniel Brown, PhD, and seven other colleagues for the development of the book Attachment Disturbances in Adults: Treatment for Comprehensive Repair (Brown & Elliott, 2016). ISSTD honored this book with the 2018 Pierre Janet Writing Award.
Available Credit
- 1.50 APAThe International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
- 1.50 ASWB ACEThe International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD), #1744, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 08/20/2024 – 08/20/2027. Social workers completing this course receive 1.50 continuing education credits.
- 1.50 ISSTD Certificate ProgramThis program is eligible for 1.50 credits in the ISSTD Certificate Program. No certificate of completion is generated for this type of credit.
Early registration ends September 30, 2024 at 5:00 PM US Eastern Time. Prices will increase for emerging professional and professional/retired rates at that time by $50.
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