Affect Regulation & Somatic Attachment

This course will offer students a basic grasp of nervous system regulation which has been well-documented as the basis to resolving trauma and to ensuring client safety in therapy and life. Didactic material based on the works of interpersonal neurobiologists will address infant brain development, right-brain/left-brain factors, the physiological basis of attachment security, and the crucial role of attending to somatic and limbic experience in clinical work. Students will identify the various attachment strategies, how these strategies manifest in the therapeutic dyad, and effective clinical interventions. Videos and a demonstration illustrating somatic skills to track present-moment experience with attention to regulation and core beliefs underlying attachment are included. In addition, experiential exercises will provide students a visceral and personal experience of the material.