Workshop Description

​Attachment is a popular theory for understanding child and adolescent development and the disruptive effects of abuse and neglect. It also helps explain how childhood relationships with our primary caregivers often carry over into our adult relationships. However, models and methods to heal from attachment woundings are less studied and accessible.
 
Grounded in clinical research with couples and families, this workshop connects communication blockages with couple attachment issues. Through hands-on practice and exploration, participants will learn how to open up communication to create connections that meet our universal human yearnings for connection, safety and worth. Applications to parenting, couple and family functioning and workplace settings will be discussed and demonstrated.
 
Audience
 
This workshop welcomes anyone interested in becoming more effective communicators in their personal, family, and professional lives. Clinicians will learn a framework to map communication and help their clients make important shifts to enhance their coping and self-efficacy to improve mental health.
 
Objectives

  • Acknowledge our universal human yearnings for connection, safety and worth
  • Map communication postures to attachment styles
  • Practise congruent communication to create more vibrant relationships
 
About the Presenter
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Bonnie Lee, MSW (RSW), PhD, is an Associate Professor in Health Sciences (Addictions Counselling), University of Lethbridge.  She has been awarded the Board of Governors Research Chair (Tier II) in 2016-2019 for her innovative research in addictions. She is a Registered Marriage and Family Therapist and a Clinical Fellow of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, and a Registered Social Worker. Her evidence-based model Congruence Couple Therapy extends Virginia Satir’s pioneering work in family therapy through conceptualization, integration and manualized application to addiction and concurrent disorders. Linking training, practice and research, Bonnie is currently conducting a multi-site randomized trial in Alberta Health Services comparing outcomes of Congruence Couple Therapy for gambling and alcohol disorders.
 
A trainer and speaker in Canada and internationally, her articles on treatment outcomes, training evaluation, trauma and addiction, and a conceptual relational framework for addiction and mental health were published in peer reviewed international journals. To access her articles, go to: https://www.uleth.ca/dspace/handle/10133/546

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To register, email: openheartcouples@gmail.com

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