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Attachment-based practice with Adults

 Understanding psychodynamics, systemic practice and attachment-informed models of support

 A one-day introductory course, facilitated by CLARK BAIM delivered throughout July 2015

The course was mandatory for all operational staff and managers working in Access, Assessment and Care Management, Mental Health and social workers in Provider Services. 

This one day introductory course is an integral part of Walsall’s developing community social work model and the transformation of adult social care in Walsall. The course will introduce participants to the key principles of contemporary attachment theory and its links with psychodynamic theory, systemic theory and the bio-psycho-social approach. The aim is to re-connect social work to the therapeutic models in order to better support people through periods of change and major life transitions and challenges.

What the course offers:

• Introduction to the key elements of contemporary attachment theory, psychodynamic theory, systemic theory and the bio-psycho-social approach to working with people.
• Understanding the relevance of attachment strategies across the life span, especially in relation to danger and unresolved loss and trauma.
• Learning how attachment strategies may be expressed in speech and behaviour.
• Considering the role of the social and health care professional in supporting people through periods of change, grief, loss and crisis of identity.
• Learning about how to tailor your intervention to best fit the attachment strategies of your service users.
• Applying attachment theory to relationship-based practice and reflective practice (this includes reflecting on our own attachment strategies).
• Putting it into practice: Applying theory in practice through the use of several key techniques such as social network diagrams, genograms, timelines and structured approaches to identifying and building strengths.
• Applying the theory and the models to your own practice and working context.

The course is a mixture of theory-based presentations and practical activities, where you will get a chance to try out several tools and techniques. Full handout packs are provided. 

Clark Baim, M.Ed., BPA, UKCP, is a Trainer, Psychotherapist and Co-Director of Change Point Learning and Development, providing training in social work, mental health, voluntary and criminal justice settings across the UK and Ireland. In the 1980s, Clark was the founder and first Director of Birmingham-based Geese Theatre UK, using applied drama in prisons and probation for rehabilitation purposes. In the 1990s, he worked as a group psychotherapist for five years at HM Prison Grendon, and he worked for more than ten years as a lead national trainer for probation groupwork facilitators. He has studied extensively in the Dynamic-Maturational Model of Attachment with Dr. Patricia Crittenden, and is qualified as a forensic-level coder of the Adult Attachment Interview using the DMM approach. Clark developed this course with Tony Morrison in 2002. He is the co-author of “Attachment Based Practice with Adults” (2011, Pavilion Publishing).Clark is also a Senior Trainer in Psychodrama Psychotherapy and Co-Director of the Birmingham Institute for Psychodrama.

Attachment based practice handout

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