Circle of Security    Further Info    Bert Powell    Accommodation Options    COS Application Form

Further Info

Understanding Attachment - the Circle of Security® Approach 

Two Day Training 

Rationale for workshop 

The Circle of Security Project is an internationally acclaimed intervention protocol designed to support secure attachment in high-risk populations. Current university and clinical research is making it clear that for individuals with an unhealthy attachment the basic capacities for emotional health are severely compromised. For this reason mental health professionals throughout the world are showing a dramatic interest in evidence-based studies regarding attachment in children and adults. Proper diagnosis and treatment of this population is thus becoming a priority for those involved with intervention and prevention. 

This two day video-based seminar will utilise the acclaimed Circle of Security approach to bring answers to the following questions: 

“Just how important is a child's quality of attachment with primary caregivers?” 

“What are the essential characteristics of a parent/child relationship that will promote emotional well-being and mental health across the life span?” 

“What are the danger signs and implications of an unhealthy attachment?” 

“Once established, can unhealthy attachment patterns be altered?” 

The objectives of the seminar will be to offer a comprehensive and user-friendly overview of attachment theory and it’s clinical implications. Particular attention will be given to the essential features of both healthy and unhealthy attachment and a description of interventions used to treat disturbances of attachment. 

The findings shared will clarify how the Circle of Security approach can support parent/child relationships and alter negative patterns of behaviour. Medical professionals, mental health practitioners, educators, maternal and child health nurses, social workers, lawyers, clergy, child care providers, parents, foster parents, and other child service professionals can benefit from such a view by harnessing the fundamental interpersonal processes that promote emotional well-being and mental health throughout the life of every individual. 

Goals of the Workshop

  1. Provide a user-friendly overview of infant development and attachment theory
  2. Offer video examples of specific attachment patterns, clarifying the characteristics of secure, insecure, and disorganised attachment
  3. Integrate attachment theory with current research in brain development and affective neuroscience
  4. Explore practical applications of the Circle of Security approach within basic treatment strategies for individuals and dyads that display struggles in attachment

Eight-Day Training 

The Circle of Security Project is an innovative, first-of-its-kind parent education program designed to alter the developmental pathway of parents and their young children (birth to five years). This evidence-based protocol integrates over fifty years of attachment research into a video-based intervention to strengthen parents' capacity to observe and improve their parenting. The use of videotaped interaction allows each parent to focus on specific personal strengths and limitations, rather than relying on the traditional 'one-size-fits-all' approach to parenting education. Attachment theory taught in this way, gives each parent an individualised parenting 'road map', a clear pathway to providing a secure relationship for her/his child. 

This eight-day video based training is designed to provide participants with an understanding of attachment theory, current affective neuroscience, and developmental psychopathology. This training is being planned for practicing clinicians who are interested in experiencing a "user-friendly" approach to the complexity and specificity inherent within these fields of research and treatment for infants and young children. The focus will be upon attachment-oriented issues in the client population, from securely attached parent/child dyads experiencing short-term crises, to those struggling with insecure and disorganised attachment.

The following themes will be central to this time of study:

Fundamentals of Developmental Psychopathology

Fundamentals of Defensive Process

Fundamentals of Treatment

Reflective Dialogue as the Conduit of Treatment

All training will be done within the context of the 'learner-friendly' accessibility provided by the Circle of Security Protocol. The underlying focus will be upon a practical application for the treatment of parent/child dyads (birth to five years). Central to this approach will be an emphasis upon differential diagnosis. An attachment oriented understanding of personality defences will allow for a specific and unambiguous means of communicating with the underlying capacities available beneath the defensive process for each parent.

Upon completion of this eight day training, participants will have access to a systematic approach for evaluating parental states of mind, identifying precise strengths and lynchpin difficulties in parent/child interactions, creating specific treatment plans tailored to the unique themes of each parent/child dyad, and a detailed protocol for the implementation of core treatment themes.

It is essential to emphasise that this training is not, in itself, a certification program for the Circle of Security Protocol.  There are two levels of certification for Circle of Security;

 

 

Circle of Security    Further Info    Bert Powell    Accommodation Options    COS Application Form