Learn the basics of attachment system dynamics and get to the root of unresolved trauma to help yourself and others move back to secure attachment.
Does it seem like secure attachment comes more easily for some people than others?
Contemporary research shows that early experiences in childhood create a “blueprint” or “template” for how we interact in adult relationships. As children grow, explore and learn to relate to others, a secure base supports stress regulation and promotes a sense of safety and trust.
When we don’t get the security we need, we quickly learn to adapt in order to survive. In attachment theory, these adaptations are called insecure attachment styles.
As adults, attachment usually comes to the forefront when traumatic events awaken or amplify our fear, anger, isolation and helplessness—negative responses that affect our health and wellbeing, or cause lasting damage to a relationship with someone we love.
When we seek intimacy and connection as adults, we seek a return to secure attachment.
The paradox is that we often find ourselves drawn to a partner or significant other who reinforces or recreates the challenging emotional climate of our childhood.
And while we may not have had a say in whether our needs would be met (or unmet) in childhood, the good news is that attachment styles are not fixed.
That’s because our innate attachment system is highly adaptable—and since we are already biologically wired for secure attachment, we simply need to learn techniques and tools that get to the root of trauma and support permanent change, recovery and growth.
By understanding the basics of attachment system dynamics, it becomes possible to restore secure attachment, radically change the nature of relationships, and experience greater intimacy, wholeness and joy.
Research suggests that as much as 90% of conflict and issues that arise in adult relationships can be traced back to early attachment experiences.
Not only does attachment theory give us a foundation to understand how the past shapes our present relationships, it gives us a practical framework to address deep-rooted patterns, no matter how complex.
The good news is that humans are relational beings… and healing happens in the very place that the initial attachment wound occurred—in relationship.
We rarely heal in isolation, which is why you or your clients can’t do this alone.
Dr. Heller will teach you a powerful, proven and pragmatic approach that gives you concrete tools to shift destructive relationship patterns into constructive behaviors and communication. Begin your healing journey today.
• Session 1: Secure Attachment
• Session 2: Avoidant Attachment
• Session 3: Ambivalent (Anxious) Attachment
• Session 4: Disorganized Attachment
• Session 5: Mourning (and Healing) Your Lost Childhood
+ PROGRAM BONUS: Two LIVE integration sessions with Jennifer Jonell
Learn the basics of attachment system dynamics. Get to the root of unresolved trauma to help yourself and others move back to secure attachment and restore connection and intimacy in adult relationships.
Each week, you get access to a pre-recorded training video, including downloadable audio and transcripts—plus a LIVE 90-minute call with Dr. Heller.
The first four weeks we explore each of the four attachment styles in depth through live teaching, actual client demo reviews and Q&A.
In the fifth week, we learn how to actively grieve and mourn the past we lost, using corrective experiences you can integrate and apply to the work in your clinical practice or personal life.
Can’t attend live? All calls are recorded and posted to your personal learning portal within 48 hours, where they’re yours to keep for the life of the program.
Each week, you and your colleagues join
Dr. Diane Poole Heller for a 90-minute LIVE call where you learn an experiential exercise, discuss the week’s teachings and review actual client demos.
At the end of the calls, there’s always time set aside for your questions and answers.
Join DARe-trained Associate, Jennifer Jonell for two, LIVE 60-minute integration sessions.
Jennifer will demonstrate PROCESS WORK with course participants—sharing insights, answering questions and showing you how to integrate the work into everyday clinical practice.
All training videos and client demos are accompanied by both audio and written transcripts, because we know some people prefer not only to watch material, but also to have the written copy on hand.
Download (or print) the transcripts and use them for reference and note-taking.
Don’t miss your chance to learn directly from Dr. Diane Poole Heller in this course that’s only offered once a year!
(*With the exception of April 19th and May 3rd, when we’ll meet for 2.5 hours—the last hour will be set aside for our special BONUS Integration Sessions with Jennifer Jonell)
Attachment to a primary caregiver is the foundation for all future relationships. When you experience secure attachment, you learn how to trust others, ask for what you need and respond to stress or conflict in emotionally appropriate ways.
In this module, we explore how early life experiences—including trauma—set the blueprint for our lifelong attachment patterns and beliefs.
We’ll explore concrete strategies to begin strengthening our capacity for secure attachment and repairing relationships.
People with avoidant attachment struggle to connect in relationships because they were consistently ignored, rejected or punished for attachment-seeking behavior in their earliest interactions with their primary caregivers.
In this module, we explore avoidant attachment patterns in depth—from how the adaptation develops to relationship behaviors to corrective exercises and experiences that encourage a return to secure attachment.
Ambivalent attachment adaptation develops in early childhood environments where caregivers respond inconsistently to attachment-seeking behavior, creating a lifelong sense of doubt, insecurity and longing for connection.
In this module, we explore ambivalent attachment patterns—paying special attention to mindfulness, self-orientation and embodiment exercises that teach the ambivalent to connect with others and still maintain a sense of self.
Disorganized attachment adaptation develops in early childhood environments when primary caregivers engage in scary, threatening or abusive behaviors. Children cannot reconcile their simultaneous drive to attach to and flee from their caregivers and can become easily dysregulated.
In this module, we explore disorganized attachment patterns—paying special attention to the “immobility response” that tends to re-emerge when the attachment system becomes re-activated in an adult relationship.
Most people think of grief as a response to the loss of a loved one, but grief can be a response to any type of loss—including the loss of something that never was, such as a happy childhood.
When we don’t grieve or go through the grieving process, childhood wounds often come up later in life—and we risk continued suffering. Grieving is a necessary and fundamental step for anyone on a healing journey. Yet each attachment style grieves in their own way.
In this session, we’ll explore why it’s so important to actively grieve our past and how to find a path through the pain into the future.
Our first session starts April 12, 2023.
Enrollment only opens up once a year. Be sure to save your spot before it’s too late!
All-New! Two 60-Minute Integration
Sessions with Jennifer Jonell
During two live bonus sessions, DARe-trained Associate, Jennifer Jonell will facilitate PROCESS WORK with course participants to demonstrate how you can integrate the course material into your personal and professional life… including therapeutic interventions, corrective exercises and additional tools, strategies and resources.
You’ll get a chance to discuss clinical case examples, ask questions, share insights and see how Dr. Heller’s powerful attachment framework—the Dynamic Attachment Repatterning experience (DARe)—provides therapists (and their clients) with skills that break unhealthy relational patterns, restore secure attachment and support deeper connection, meaning and joy in adult relationships.
Live sessions meet two times for 60 minutes immediately after our regular weekly live sessions with Dr. Heller:
• Bonus Session #1: April 19, 2023 at 12:30 pm MT
• Bonus Session #2: May 3, 2023 at 12:30 pm MT
And don’t worry if you can’t make it live.
Both bonus sessions will be recorded and posted to your personal learning portal within 48 hours, where they’re yours to keep for the life of the program.
Wounds That Must Serve As Tools
with Dr. David Wallin
In this recorded audio training session, Dr. David Wallin and Dr. Diane Poole Heller discuss clinical applications of attachment theory—including how an exploration of how the therapist’s own attachment style can work for or against them in the clinical relationship.
We cover:
Includes audio recording and PDF transcripts, so you can take notes and follow along.
Why Healing Early Attachment Wounds Is A Must In Recovery From PTSD
with Dr. Robert Scaer
In this recorded video training session, Dr. Robert Scaer and Dr. Diane Poole Heller discuss the importance of somatic strategies in healing trauma—why it’s so important to do our own attachment work as therapists so we help clients heal.
We cover:
Includes video and audio recording, plus full PDF transcripts, so you can take notes and follow along.
Disorganized Attachment Adaptation
(a Two-Part Interview)
with Dr. Stan Tatkin
Because people who have the disorganized attachment adaptation often exhibit inconsistent behaviors or have a hard time trusting others, navigating the complexities of this attachment style can be particularly challenging for therapists.
In this two-part video interview, Dr. Stan Tatkin and Dr. Diane Poole Heller explore the intricacies of the disorganized attachment style—including various approaches and strategies that promote better healing outcomes.
We cover:
Includes video and audio recording, plus full PDF transcripts, so you can take notes and follow along.
Try the Attachment & Trauma Mastery Program: Fundamentals of Attachment Styles course 100% risk-free.
If, for any reason, you don’t feel it meets your needs, please contact our friendly Customer Support Team within 7 days of the course start date (on or before April 19, 2023)—and we’ll happily issue you a refund.
“One thing that I really appreciated about this training was that it did a really comprehensive job of talking about our different attachment styles and helping us understand them. Then, we took it one step further…with real, practical ways to teach it to our clients, not just from the top-down, but also to understand attachment and really grow from the bottom-up. That gave me a much richer experience than I’d known before.”
Loren Roth, Waynesviille, NC
This program is designed to teach the fundamentals of attachment theory in such a way that you move beyond theoretical concepts and receive real-time, hands-on training from one of the foremost experts in healing attachment and trauma.
Get to the root of unresolved attachment trauma.
Help yourself and clients break out of unhealthy patterns.
Join Dr. Heller for 5 LIVE 90-minute online sessions that include teaching review, real client demos (to show the work in action), experiential exercises and plenty of time for Q&A.
Participate at the scheduled time or download a recording of the live training at your convenience. Learn concepts, frameworks, techniques, practical exercises and ways to apply the work to everyday practice.
Each week you’ll get access to a recorded training module that provides the foundation of attachment theory, so you can better understand the origins, patterns and needs of each attachment style—and begin to learn corrective exercises, skills and strategies that restore secure attachment.
Every live training will be recorded. The recorded replay will be available in video, audio and written format, so you’ll be able to access content 24/7/365.
If you miss a training session, want to download transcripts and use them for reference and note taking—or want to watch the trainings at a later date—you’ll be able to do so at your convenience.
The course portal is also a terrific place to ask questions, grow your network and receive support directly from Dr. Heller.
Every live training will be recorded. The recorded replay will be available in video, audio and written format, so you’ll be able to access content 24/7/365.
If you miss a training session, want to download transcripts and use them for reference and note taking—or want to watch the trainings at a later date—you’ll be able to do so at your convenience.
The course portal is also a terrific place to ask questions, grow your network and receive support directly from Dr. Heller.
Includes over 3.5 hours of additional bonus audio and video training with top experts…
• Wounds That Must Serve As Tools with Dr. David Wallin
• Why Healing Early Attachment Wounds Is A Must In Recovery From PTSD with Dr. Robert Scaer
• Disorganized Attachment Adaptation (a Two-Part Interview) with Dr. Stan Tatkin
Try the Attachment & Trauma Mastery Program: Fundamentals of Attachment Styles course 100% risk-free.
If, for any reason, you don’t feel it meets your needs, please contact our friendly Customer Support Team within 7 days of the course start date (on or before April 19, 2023)—and we’ll happily issue you a refund.
Do you need CE credits?
You may be able to purchase 9.5 CE credit hours for this program, for an additional fee of $89.
Course Level: Beginning to Advanced Practice Professionals
Target Audience: Licensed mental health professionals
Continuing Education Credit is approved, but not guaranteed for the following professions:
*ONLY THE LIVE ONLINE SESSIONS WILL BE APPROVED FOR CE CREDITS.
To be eligible, professionals must purchase their CE credits by May 10, 2023 and attend all five live sessions to qualify.
A Certificate of Completion is available to all participants at the end of the course at no additional charge upon request.
It is the participants’ responsibility to check their individual state boards to verify CE requirements for their state. For detailed information regarding CEs, please click below.
In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by Amedco LLC and Trauma Solutions. Amedco LLC is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
Amedco Joint Accreditation #4008163.
This course is co-sponsored by Amedco and Trauma Solutions. Amedco is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Amedco maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
9.50 hours.
The following state boards accept courses from APA providers for Counselors: AK, AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, MD, ME, MO, NC, ND, NH, NE, NJ, NM, NV, OK*, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WI, WY
MI: No CE requirements.
*OK: Accepts APA credit for live, in-person activities but not for ethics and/or online courses.
The following state boards accept courses from APA providers for MFTs: AK, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, IA, ID, IN, KS, MD, ME, MO, NE, NC, NH, NJ, NM, NV, OK*, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI, WY
AL MFTs: Credits authorized by NBCC or any other state licensing agency will be accepted.
MA MFTs: Participants can self-submit courses not approved by the MAMFT board for review.
The following state boards accept courses from APA providers for Addictions Professionals: AK, AR, CO, CT, DC, DE, GA, IA, IN, KS, LA, MD, MO, MT, NC, ND, NE, NJ, NM, NY (held outside NY ONLY), OK*, OR, SC, UT, WA, WI, WY
The following state boards accept courses from APA providers for Social Workers: AK, AR, AZ, CA, CO, DE, FL, GA, ID, IN, KY, ME, MN, MO, NE, NH, NM, OR, PA, VT, WI, WY
As a Jointly Accredited Organization, Amedco is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. Amedco maintains responsibility for this course. Social Workers completing this course receive 9.50 GENERAL continuing education credits.
The following state boards accept courses offering ASWB ACE credit for Social Workers: AK, AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NM, NV, OH, OK*, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WI, WV*, WY
*OK: Accepts ASWB ACE for live, in-person activities but not for ethics and/or online courses.
*WV: Accepts ASWB ACE unless activity is held live in West Virginia.
The following state boards accept courses offering ASWB ACE credit for Counselors: AK, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, MA, MD, ME, MO, ND, NE, NM, NH, NV, OK*, OR, PA, TN, TX, UT, VA, WI, WY
AL: Activities without NBCC approval may be approved upon receipt of documentation prior to the activity BEFORE the event. No approvals afterward by the board.
MI: No CE requirement
The following state boards accept courses offering ASWB ACE credit for MFTs: AK, AR, AZ, CA, CO, FL, IA, ID, IN, KS, MD, ME, MO, NC, NE, NH, NM, NV, OK*, OR, PA, RI, TN, TX, UT, VA, WI, WY
AL MFTs: Credits authorized by NBCC or any other state licensing agency will be accepted.
MA MFTs: Participants can self-submit courses not approved by the MAMFT board for review.
MI: No CE requirement.
“Being comfortable in your own skin and having tools that help you regulate is a big deal, but learning how to feel safe with others is revolutionary.”
Dr. Diane Poole Heller
This program is ideal for both novice and experienced therapists, life coaches, bodywork practitioners and other mental health or behavioral professionals who work with both individuals and couples in a clinical setting—and who need a pragmatic and proven approach to skillfully and lovingly guide clients back to secure attachment so they can experience more healthy and fulfilling relationships.
In this course, you’ll get powerful insights and learn skills that can be used to improve communication, deepen intimacy and heal early attachment wounds for any type of relationship.
Both. Each live weekly session will be streamed online for 90 minutes via Zoom on Wednesdays at 11 am MT. Additionally, you’ll be able to submit questions each week (and during the live session, which includes time for Q&A).
There are also two integration sessions—led by DARe Associate Jennifer Jonell—where you have the opportunity to submit a case study or personal challenge for PROCESS WORK, ask questions, discuss clinical case examples and share insights with colleagues.
Additional weekly teaching material has been pre-recorded by Dr. Diane Poole Heller, so that you may review it at your own pace in your personal learning portal.
We would love for you to join each session live, but if you are unable to do so, all sessions (including the Q&A) are recorded, so you can still receive all the information and coaching you need.
Additionally, the program materials (including audio recordings, video recordings and transcript from each session) are yours to download and keep in your professional reference library. This will be useful for some sessions that you will want to listen to or watch more than once.
Again, the only thing you cannot download are client demos—because we need to honor and respect client confidentiality.
Yes, we’ve structured the training in such a way that we don’t just talk about theoretical concepts—we show you how to apply them. You’ll be able to watch client demo videos and participate in LIVE Q&A sessions, where Dr. Heller answers your specific questions, reviews case consults and gives you practical tips and techniques you can integrate into everyday clinical practice.
Additionally, we’ve added a new opportunity to get additional help and support—with two LIVE BONUS integration sessions, led by DARe Associate Jennifer Jonell.
It’s a unique opportunity to submit a case study or personal challenge for PROCESS WORK, ask questions about the course material or clinical examples and discuss techniques and interventions.
You may also submit questions directly to Dr. Heller via your personal learning course portal (Kajabi).
The time most people spend varies because of individual learning styles and preferences. Most of our students tell us they spend an average of 1-3 hours per module (per week) outside of our 90-minute LIVE sessions.
We also encourage everyone to work at their own pace—and at the very least, join us for the two integration sessions where we’ll walk through a participant’s case study example live, discuss the course material and answer your top questions.
At this time, continuing education credit is pending approval, but not guaranteed. Once these credits are approved, you may be able to purchase up to 9.5 CE credit hours for this program, for an additional fee of $89.
A Certificate of Completion is available to all participants at the end of the course at no additional charge upon request.
It is the participants’ responsibility to check their individual state boards to verify CE requirements for this state. For detailed information regarding CEs, please contact our Customer Support Team.
We do offer a limited number of partial scholarships for students who attend an accredited university. Reduced enrollment rates are also available for those with limited resources in countries defined as low and lower middle income by the World Bank. Please feel free to contact us for more information.
If you have additional questions or need technical support, please contact our friendly Customer Support Team for help.
