This live event takes place Sunday, December 13, 1 pm-2 pm EST (10 am-11 am PST).
This course is intended for counselors, marriage and family therapists, psychologists, social workers, and other behavioral health professionals engaged in individual, relational, or trauma-informed therapy. This training introduces clinicians to the foundational principles of attachment theory and translates them into practical, moment-to-moment clinical application. Participants will review core attachment concepts, including secure and insecure patterns, internal working models, and the role of the therapist as a secure base and safe haven. The course integrates research on emotional regulation, co-regulation, and attachment security across the lifespan, and highlights how attachment-informed interventions can support resilience, emotional safety, and meaningful change. Clinicians will leave with a clearer framework for identifying attachment dynamics and responding in ways that strengthen therapeutic effectiveness.
This live webinar is designed for counselors, marriage and family therapists, psychologists, social workers, and other behavioral health professionals providing individual, relational, or trauma-informed therapy.
The purpose of this course is to enhance learners' understanding of attachment theory and strengthen their ability to recognize attachment patterns and apply attachment-informed strategies, including attunement, validation, and co-regulation, to promote emotional safety, therapeutic effectiveness, and positive client outcomes.
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
- Identify core principles of attachment theory and their relevance to clinical practice.
- Differentiate attachment styles and internal working models in real time during sessions.
- Identify attachment patterns as they unfold in the therapeutic relationship.
- Utilize attunement, validation, and emotional safety to support meaningful change.
Michal Goldman, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker specializing in relational therapy and therapist development. She is passionate about helping clinicians cultivate secure, ethical boundaries and deepen their self-of-therapist awareness to enhance their work with couples. Michal holds extensive training in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and discernment counseling, with a focus on supporting couples through relational challenges. In addition to her clinical work, she writes a biweekly mental health column for a local newspaper, where she shares insights on relational health and ethical practice. Her teaching emphasizes compassionate care, cultural humility, and clinically sound decision-making in complex therapeutic settings.
Contributing faculty, Michal Goldman, LCSW, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Kimberly Byrd, EdD, PMSW
Scott Deatherage, PhD
The division planners have disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Sarah Campbell
The Director of Development and Academic Affairs has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
The purpose of NetCE is to provide challenging curricula to assist healthcare professionals to raise their levels of expertise while fulfilling their continuing education requirements, thereby improving the quality of healthcare.
Our contributing faculty members have taken care to ensure that the information and recommendations are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents. Participants are cautioned about the potential risk of using limited knowledge when integrating new techniques into practice.
It is the policy of NetCE not to accept commercial support. Furthermore, commercial interests are prohibited from distributing or providing access to this activity to learners.
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The role of implicit biases on healthcare outcomes has become a concern, as there is some evidence that implicit biases contribute to health disparities, professionals' attitudes toward and interactions with patients, quality of care, diagnoses, and treatment decisions. This may produce differences in help-seeking, diagnoses, and ultimately treatments and interventions. Implicit biases may also unwittingly produce professional behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that reduce patients' trust and comfort with their provider, leading to earlier termination of visits and/or reduced adherence and follow-up. Disadvantaged groups are marginalized in the healthcare system and vulnerable on multiple levels; health professionals' implicit biases can further exacerbate these existing disadvantages.
Interventions or strategies designed to reduce implicit bias may be categorized as change-based or control-based. Change-based interventions focus on reducing or changing cognitive associations underlying implicit biases. These interventions might include challenging stereotypes. Conversely, control-based interventions involve reducing the effects of the implicit bias on the individual's behaviors. These strategies include increasing awareness of biased thoughts and responses. The two types of interventions are not mutually exclusive and may be used synergistically.
#9685L: Attachment Theory and Earned Security in Therapy
Attachment theory provides one of the most influential frameworks for understanding emotional development, relational functioning, and psychological distress. Bowlby conceptualized attachment as a biologically based survival system designed to maintain proximity to caregivers in times of distress [2]. Ainsworth’s observational research further identified distinct attachment patterns, demonstrating how caregiver responsiveness shapes children’s expectations of safety, availability, and self-worth [1].
Subsequent research has demonstrated that attachment processes are closely tied to emotional regulation and nervous system functioning. Tronick’s Still Face experiment illustrates how quickly distress escalates when relational responsiveness is withdrawn, highlighting the centrality of co-regulation in human development [9]. Contemporary research continues to show that attachment security is associated with greater access to positive emotional experiences and adaptive functioning across development [7].
In psychotherapy, these findings underscore the importance of the therapeutic relationship as a context for co-regulation and corrective emotional experience. Attachment-informed practice emphasizes attunement, presence and compassion as amechanisms of change [4]. More recent scholarship further supports the integration of attachment and relational neuroscience into everyday clinical work, reinforcing the therapist’s role in fostering emotional safety and resilience [6,8]. Despite the broad influence of attachment theory, many clinicians receive limited training in how to translate these principles into concrete interventions. This course addresses that gap by providing a structured and clinically practical framework for applying attachment theory in therapy.
The workbook discussed in this webinar is available here.
1. Ainsworth MDS. Patterns of attachment: a psychological study of the strange situation. Lawrence Erlbaum; 1978.
3. Brown B. The gifts of imperfection: let go of who you think you’re supposed to be and embrace who you are. 10th anniversary ed. Hazelden Publishing; 2020.
4. Geller SM, Greenberg LS. Therapeutic presence: a mindful approach to effective therapy. In: Germer CK, Siegel RD, eds. Wisdom and compassion in psychotherapy: deepening mindfulness in clinical practice. Guilford Press; 2012:131-147.
5. Iwakabe S, Edlin J, Fosha D, Thoma NC, Gretton H, Joseph AJ, Nakamura K. The long-term outcome of accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy: 6- and 12-month follow-up results. Psychotherapy (Chic). 2022;59(3):431-446.
6. Johnson SM. Attachment theory in practice: emotionally focused therapy (EFT) with individuals, couples, and families. Guilford Press; 2019.
Mention of commercial products does not indicate endorsement.