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Attachment theory is one of the most robust and clinically useful contributions of recent decades. Yet many psychologists trained in the psychodynamic approach struggle to translate its concepts into concrete clinical actions. This training fills exactly that gap.

In two hours of asynchronous content, you will learn to identify your patients' attachment style through the form of their narrative, understand what is at play in the therapeutic relationship through an attachment lens, and adapt your psychodynamic interventions accordingly — with the anxious-ambivalent, avoidant, or disorganized patient.

The training follows a rigorous progression: from the theoretical foundations of Bowlby, Ainsworth, and Main through to concrete clinical interventions, including detailed analysis of four in-depth clinical cases. Each module integrates clinical vignettes, countertransference markers, and commented intervention guidelines.

What sets this training apart from other available content on attachment: it does not stop at classifying styles. It goes where trainings rarely go — the clinical gesture, the therapeutic relationship, and the therapist's own reflective awareness of their attachment functioning.

This training is designed for clinical psychologists, psychotherapists, and mental health professionals who wish to enrich their psychodynamic practice with a clinical reading of attachment theory, deepen their understanding of transference and countertransference, and develop concrete tools for working with patients with complex relational profiles.

This training includes a downloadable certificate of completion upon passing the final integration quiz.

Register for the training — Registration with certificate

Training by Christophe Herbert, psychologist (AI-enhanced training)

4 Learning Objectives

Identify a patient's attachment style during a clinical interview Upon completing this training, you will be able to recognize the verbal, non-verbal, and narrative markers of attachment patterns — secure, anxious-ambivalent, avoidant, and disorganized — without using a formal assessment tool, based solely on the quality of clinical listening.

Analyze the attachment dynamics at work in the therapeutic relationship You will be able to identify how the patient's attachment style structures the transference, recognize the countertransference reactions specific to each style, and detect attachment-related enactments before they compromise the therapeutic process.

Adapt psychodynamic interventions according to the patient's attachment style You will be able to modulate your interventions — in frame management, timing of interpretations, regulation of relational distance — based on the identified attachment style, with distinct clinical guidelines for each of the three insecure styles.

Use the therapeutic relationship as a lever for transforming internal working models You will be able to create the conditions for a new relational experience in session, progressively bring the patient's internal working models into awareness, and identify the clinical indicators that signal movement toward a more secure state of mind — what research calls earned security.

Training Outline

Module 1 — Attachment Theory: What You Really Need to Know (Bowlby, 1969; Ainsworth et al., 1978; Main & Solomon, 1990)

• Bowlby: A founding break (Bowlby, 1969)
• Behavioral systems: attachment, exploration, caregiving (Bowlby, 1982)
• Mary Ainsworth and attachment patterns (Ainsworth et al., 1978)
• The three patterns: secure, anxious-ambivalent, avoidant (Ainsworth et al., 1978)
• Mary Main and the disorganized pattern (Main & Solomon, 1990)
• Attachment in adulthood: continuity and reorganization (Main et al., 1985)
• Internal working models (Bowlby, 1973; Bretherton & Munholland, 2008)
• What research tells us about attachment and psychotherapy (Levy et al., 2011; Mikulincer & Shaver, 2016)

Module 2 — Recognizing Attachment Styles in Clinical Interviews (Main et al., 1985; Hesse, 2016; George et al., 1984)

• Listening differently: form before content (Main et al., 1985; Grice, 1975)
• The secure style: fluency, integration, freedom (Main et al., 1985; Hesse, 2016)
• The anxious-ambivalent style: hyperactivation and preoccupation (Cassidy & Berlin, 1994)
• The avoidant style: deactivation and defensive self-sufficiency (Dozier & Kobak, 1992)
• The disorganized style: absence of a coherent strategy (Main & Hesse, 1990; Liotti, 2004)
• Attachment and psychopathology: key reference points (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2012; Dozier et al., 2008)
• Mixed styles and the question of complexity (Hesse, 2016)
• Clinical vignettes: identifying style from interview excerpts (Holmes, 2001)

Module 3 — Attachment in the Therapeutic Relationship (Bowlby, 1988; Holmes, 1996; Wallin, 2007)

• The therapist as attachment figure (Bowlby, 1988; Holmes, 1996)
• How each style structures the transference (Wallin, 2007; Slade, 2008)
• Countertransference specific to each style (Dozier et al., 1994; Wallin, 2007)
• The therapist's attachment style: blind spot and resource (Dozier et al., 1994; Tyrrell et al., 1999)
• Attachment-related enactments (Bromberg, 1998; Wallin, 2007)
• The threat of relational rupture as maximal activation (Safran & Muran, 2000)
• Building the secure base: what it actually means in practice (Bowlby, 1988; Sroufe, 2005)
• Clinical vignette: an enactment recognized and worked through (Holmes, 2001; Wallin, 2007)

Module 4 — Intervening in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy According to Attachment Style (Wallin, 2007; Fonagy et al., 2002; Holmes, 2001)

With the anxious-ambivalent patient

• Holding the frame with warmth (Cassidy & Berlin, 1994; Holmes, 2001)
• Working on tolerance of separation (Bowlby, 1973; Wallin, 2007)
• Naming patterns without rejecting (Fonagy et al., 2002)
• Session endings as clinical territory (Safran & Muran, 2000)
• When to interpret, when to contain (Fonagy et al., 2002; Holmes, 2001)

With the avoidant patient

• Respecting distance as a path toward connection (Main, 1990; Wallin, 2007)
• Micro-openings: recognizing and receiving them (Holmes, 2001)
• Working with emotions without triggering closure (Dozier & Kobak, 1992)
• Honoring autonomy while opening toward healthy dependency (Bowlby, 1988)
• Silence as a form of presence (Wallin, 2007)

With the disorganized patient

• Prioritizing safety and stabilization (Liotti, 2004; van der Kolk, 2014)
• Understanding alternations without premature interpretation (Bromberg, 1998; Liotti, 2004)
• Working with dissociation in session (Ogden et al., 2006; van der Kolk, 2014)
• The testing of the bond: holding with care (Holmes, 2001; Wallin, 2007)
• Long-term therapy as a therapeutic necessity (Fonagy et al., 2002)

Working with internal working models

• Making the model visible: how to talk about it with the patient (Bowlby, 1973; Bretherton & Munholland, 2008)
• New relational experiences and insight: complementarity (Stern et al., 1998; Fonagy et al., 2002)
• Implicit change and change through insight (Stern et al., 1998; Lyons-Ruth, 1998)
• Clinical indicators of transformation in attachment patterns (Levy et al., 2006; Mikulincer & Shaver, 2016)

Module 5 — In-Depth Clinical Cases (Holmes, 2001; Wallin, 2007; Liotti, 2004)

• Case 1 — Camille: anxious-ambivalent style, requests for contact between sessions, emotional escalation (Cassidy & Berlin, 1994; Safran & Muran, 2000)
• Case 2 — Marc: avoidant style, therapy going in circles, apparent absence of change (Main, 1990; Dozier & Kobak, 1992)
• Case 3 — Leïla: disorganized style, traumatic history, alternations and relational rupture (Liotti, 2004; van der Kolk, 2014)
• Case 4 — Julien: mixed style, identity void, diagnostic complexity, and dissociative zones (Bromberg, 1998; Hesse, 2016)

Module 6 — Integration and Reflective Practice (Wallin, 2007; Fonagy et al., 2002; Mikulincer & Shaver, 2016)

• Visual synthesis: the four styles at a glance (Hesse, 2016; Wallin, 2007)
• What this training cannot do (Dozier et al., 1994)
• Guided self-reflection: my attachment style in my practice (Tyrrell et al., 1999; Wallin, 2007)
• Continuing to develop this sensitivity: supervision (Watkins, 2011)
• Continuing to develop this sensitivity: recommended readings (Bowlby, 1969; Fonagy et al., 2002; van der Kolk, 2014)
• Continuing to develop this sensitivity: assessment tools (Main et al., 1985; Brennan et al., 1998)
• The three essential clinical gestures (Bowlby, 1988; Wallin, 2007)

Integration Quiz and Certificate Knowledge validation test and certificate

This training includes: Illustrated slide-based videos + Downloadable training certificate

Instructor: Christophe Herbert, Psychologist

Psychologist specializing in psychotherapeutic support for trauma survivors and individuals experiencing severe bereavement. Director of H4 Éditions.

Who is this for?

This training is reserved for professionals (e.g., psychologists, psychotherapists, psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, sexologists, psychiatric nurses, etc.) and students in psychology or psychiatry. Other professionals upon request: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

How to register and access the course

1. Register for your personal training account and pay the registration fee (invoice available).
2. You will have access to the course (video lectures and downloadable materials) in your personal training space.
3. You can complete the course in multiple sessions. Once registered, you may begin the course whenever you choose. No time limit to complete the training. You may contact the instructor with any questions.

Register now — Immediate access to the training

Bibliography

• Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Erlbaum.
• Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Attachment. Basic Books.
• Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss: Vol. 2. Separation: Anxiety and anger. Basic Books.
• Bowlby, J. (1980). Attachment and loss: Vol. 3. Loss: Sadness and depression. Basic Books.
• Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Attachment (2e éd.). Basic Books.
• Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base: Parent-child attachment and healthy human development. Basic Books.
• Brennan, K. A., Clark, C. L., & Shaver, P. R. (1998). Self-report measurement of adult attachment. Dans J. A. Simpson & W. S. Rholes (Éds.), Attachment theory and close relationships (pp. 46–76). Guilford Press.
• Bromberg, P. M. (1998). Standing in the spaces: Essays on clinical process, trauma, and dissociation. Analytic Press.
• Cassidy, J., & Berlin, L. J. (1994). The insecure/ambivalent pattern of attachment. Child Development, 65(4), 971–991.
• Dozier, M., & Kobak, R. R. (1992). Psychophysiology in attachment interviews. Child Development, 63(6), 1473–1480.
• Dozier, M., Cue, K. L., & Barnett, L. (1994). Clinicians as caregivers: Role of attachment organization in treatment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62(4), 793–800.
• Dozier, M., Stovall-McClough, K. C., & Albus, K. E. (2008). Attachment and psychopathology in adulthood. Dans J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Éds.), Handbook of attachment (2e éd., pp. 718–744). Guilford Press.
• Fonagy, P., Gergely, G., Jurist, E. L., & Target, M. (2002). Affect regulation, mentalization and the development of the self. Other Press.
• George, C., Kaplan, N., & Main, M. (1984). Adult Attachment Interview. Unpublished manuscript, University of California, Berkeley.
• Hesse, E. (2016). The Adult Attachment Interview: Protocol, method of analysis, and selected empirical studies: 1985–2015. Dans J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Éds.), Handbook of attachment (3e éd., pp. 553–597). Guilford Press.
• Holmes, J. (1996). Attachment, intimacy, autonomy: Using attachment theory in adult psychotherapy. Jason Aronson.
• Holmes, J. (2001). The search for the secure base: Attachment theory and psychotherapy. Brunner-Routledge.
• Levy, K. N., Meehan, K. B., Kelly, K. M., Reynoso, J. S., Weber, M., Clarkin, J. F., & Kernberg, O. F. (2006). Change in attachment patterns and reflective function in a randomized control trial of transference-focused psychotherapy for borderline personality disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74(6), 1027–1040.
• Levy, K. N., Ellison, W. D., Scott, L. N., & Bernecker, S. L. (2011). Attachment style. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 67(2), 193–203.
• Liotti, G. (2004). Trauma, dissociation, and disorganized attachment. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 41(4), 472–486.
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• Main, M., & Hesse, E. (1990). Parents' unresolved traumatic experiences are related to infant disorganized attachment status. Dans M. T. Greenberg, D. Cicchetti, & E. M. Cummings (Éds.), Attachment in the preschool years (pp. 161–182). University of Chicago Press.
• Main, M., & Solomon, J. (1990). Procedures for identifying infants as disorganized/disoriented during the Ainsworth Strange Situation. Dans M. T. Greenberg, D. Cicchetti, & E. M. Cummings (Éds.), Attachment in the preschool years: Theory, research, and intervention (pp. 121–160). University of Chicago Press.
• Main, M., Kaplan, N., & Cassidy, J. (1985). Security in infancy, childhood, and adulthood. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50(1–2), 66–104.
• Mikulincer, M., & Shaver, P. R. (2012). An attachment perspective on psychopathology. World Psychiatry, 11(1), 11–15.
• Mikulincer, M., & Shaver, P. R. (2016). Attachment in adulthood: Structure, dynamics, and change (2e éd.). Guilford Press.
• Ogden, P., Minton, K., & Pain, C. (2006). Trauma and the body: A sensorimotor approach to psychotherapy. Norton.
• Safran, J. D., & Muran, J. C. (2000). Negotiating the therapeutic alliance: A relational treatment guide. Guilford Press.
• Slade, A. (2008). The implications of attachment theory and research for adult psychotherapy. Dans J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Éds.), Handbook of attachment (2e éd., pp. 762–782). Guilford Press.
• Sroufe, L. A. (2005). Attachment and development. Attachment & Human Development, 7(4), 349–367.
• Stern, D. N., Sander, L. W., Nahum, J. P., Harrison, A. M., Lyons-Ruth, K., Morgan, A. C., Bruschweilerstern, N., & Tronick, E. Z. (1998). Non-interpretive mechanisms in psychoanalytic therapy. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 79, 903–921.
• Tyrrell, C. L., Dozier, M., Teague, G. B., & Fallot, R. D. (1999). Effective treatment relationships for persons with serious psychiatric disorders. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 67(5), 725–733.
• van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Viking.
• Wallin, D. J. (2007). Attachment in psychotherapy. Guilford Press.
• Watkins, C. E. (2011). Does psychotherapy supervision contribute to patient outcomes? The Clinical Supervisor, 30(2), 235–256.