March 4 | 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm (Webinar)

March 10 | 8:00 am - 11:45 am (In-Person)

Presenters: 

Carol George, PhD | Mills College- Oakland
Melissa Lehmann, PhD | Private Practice, Center for Therapeutic Assessment

Workshop Information:

This collaborative workshop will demonstrate the application of the AAP in treating a client whose attachment classification is Failure to Mourn. It begins with a brief orientation to the attachment theory approach to incomplete mourning and Failure to Mourn to fortify the developmental connections between grief and early attachment experience. The presenters will provide a “live” AAP case consultation and participants will have the opportunity to collaborate in small groups to analyze AAP stories and other test data, develop a case conceptualization, plan assessment interventions, and collaborate in creating written feedback incorporating the AAP. The “hands on” workshop gives participants deeper clinical understanding of the challenges of treating clients in failed mourning, assessment of this pattern using the AAP, and practical ideas for assessment interventions and written feedback for future clients.

Goals and Objectives:

1. Become aware of attachment theory conceptualizations of trauma and defensive processing thumbprints that will influence treatment planning and therapeutic approaches to mourning.

2. Identify developmental attachment “red flags” to help clinicians understand the origins and relationship implications of Failure to Mourn in their clients.

3. Use this foundation to deepen one’s understanding of the role of the AAP in assessing Failure to Mourn.

4. Demonstrate integrating attachment assessment of Failure to Mourn in a multimodal assessment framework to maximize developing a treatment plan.

5. Design client feedback that is appropriately relevant and respectful so that the clinician and client can co-create a path to address psychological distress and the importance of grieving attachment trauma.

Skill Level:

Intermediate. Participants should have some knowledge of attachment theory and the AAP.

Available Bios

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