SP14 – Helping Trauma Survivors to Have the Relationships They Deserve
Beginner
Survivors of complex childhood trauma –systemic abuse, neglect, and disrupted attachment schemata — enter adulthood with internal working models of relationship that often lead them into difficult and painful connections with others. I will address the specific challenges in empowering these survivors to stop “paying the price of admission” to intimacy, and discuss how therapists can find effective strategies for addressing pre-verbal and early verbal core beliefs about self, being lovable, and being safe in relationships.
Educational Objectives:
- Describe how early attachment trauma creates problematic relationship schema, the “price of admission” construct
- Describe strategies for assisting adults to identify their “price of admission” schemata
- Describe how these problematic attachment schemata manifest themselves in therapy