Event Image

(NEW) Trauma, Attachment and the Need for Affect Regulation Skills in Couples Work

Registration Fee:
$189
Date:
Monday,
December 22, 2025

Registration & Breakfast:
Log Into Zoom:
Registration:
8:15 AM (ET)
Training:
8:45 AM - 4:15 PM (ET)
Place:
Virtual Training on Zoom
CEUs:
6
Type of CEUs*:
No items found.
Register Now
A picture of this speaker.
Lisa Ferentz
LCSW-C, DAPA

Workshop Description:

Trauma informed therapists understand the connection between childhood abuse, and the neglect, and the parent-child attachment styles that emerge from these dysfunctional family systems. We will explore the impact of ambivalent, avoidant, and disorganized attachment, and how it creates a relational template that is reenacted by clients in their subsequent intimate relationships. We will connect early attachment experiences to hypo-arousal and hyper-arousal. Participants will learn how affect dysregulation and unresolved trauma impairs a couple's ability to communicate effectively, regulate emotional states, and hijacks their sexual intimacy. Participants will learn about the "optimal window of arousal" and what happens for couples when they get triggered and are unable to stay present with one another.

Since healthy attachment and connection is biologically rooted in somatic experiences, we will process somatic resourcing as a form of affect regulation, comfort, and containment. Breath work, hand-in-hand meditation, and a variety of simple techniques that incorporate, postures and soothing movements will help clients to reground and increase awareness of the body as a resource for comfort. These exercises offer reparative experiences of safety and connection while strengthening clients' abilities to self regulate and co-regulate, communicate their needs and appropriately comfort themselves and their partner. We will also address the triggering and dissociation that occurs for sexual abuse survivors when they attempt to be intimate. These strategies will increase clients' access to their own inner wisdom and healing powers, while helping therapists to feel more confident about moving forward with emotionally charged material in sessions.

Learning Objectives:

1. Explain the four attachment patterns in the parent child relationship and describe the manifestations of disorganized attachment.

2. Explain why the meaning of a traumatic event is as important as the event itself, and the impact it has on a couple's relationship.

3. Discuss the difference between inter regulation and auto and how they are connected to attachment.

4. Discuss the concept of the "optimal window of arousal" and the impact it has on couples therapy.

5. Explain the connection between trauma, a lack of secure attachment, and affect dysregulation.

6. Demonstrate at least two breathing techniques and one meditation, to increase grounding and self soothing.

7. Utilize at least four somatic resourcing techniques to enhance containment, safety, and comfort.

8. Describe and implement at least three strategies to help sexual abuse survivors navigate the challenges that arise during physical intimacy.

Agenda:

Time
Topics
8:45 AM - 10:15 AM

- Processing our earliest experiences with attachment

- Exploring four attachment patterns (videos)

- Processing the impact of disorganized attachment

- The challenge of attaching to abusive or emotionally unavailable caretakers

- Processing The Still Face experiment

10:15 AM - 10:30 AM
BREAK
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM

- Affect dysregulation and the window of arousal

- Defining trauma

- The meaning and the impact of trauma

- Working with dissociation and shame

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
LUNCH
1:00 - 2:30 PM

- Strengthening soothing with mirror neurons

- Somatic resourcing strategies

- Using breathwork for regrounding and calming

- Using power poses

- Hand-in-hand meditation exercise

2:30 PM - 2:45 PM
BREAK
2:45 PM - 4:15 PM

- Working with flashbacks

- Short circuiting dissociation

- Using aromatherapy

- Addressing child sexual abuse with adult survivors

- Incorporating remembered resources

Agenda:

Time
Topics
8:45 AM - 10:15 AM

- Processing our earliest experiences with attachment

- Exploring four attachment patterns (videos)

- Processing the impact of disorganized attachment

- The challenge of attaching to abusive or emotionally unavailable caretakers

- Processing The Still Face experiment

10:15 AM - 10:30 AM
BREAK
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM

- Affect dysregulation and the window of arousal

- Defining trauma

- The meaning and the impact of trauma

- Working with dissociation and shame

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
LUNCH
1:00 - 2:30 PM

- Strengthening soothing with mirror neurons

- Somatic resourcing strategies

- Using breathwork for regrounding and calming

- Using power poses

- Hand-in-hand meditation exercise

2:30 PM - 2:45 PM
BREAK
2:45 PM - 4:15 PM

- Working with flashbacks

- Short circuiting dissociation

- Using aromatherapy

- Addressing child sexual abuse with adult survivors

- Incorporating remembered resources

Agenda:

Time
Topics
8:45 AM - 10:15 AM
10:15 AM - 10:30 AM
BREAK
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM

Agenda:

Time
Topics
8:45 AM - 10:15 AM
10:15 AM - 10:30 AM
BREAK
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
10:30 AM - 1:00 PM

Agenda:

Time
Topics
12:45 PM - 2:15 PM
2:15 PM - 2:30 PM
BREAK
2:30 PM - 4:00 PM

Agenda:

Time
Topics
12:45 PM - 2:15 PM
2:15 PM - 2:30 PM
BREAK
2:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Event Image

(NEW) Trauma, Attachment and the Need for Affect Regulation Skills in Couples Work

Registration Fee:
$189
Date:
Monday,
December 22, 2025
Registration & Breakfast:
8:15 AM (ET)
Training:
8:45 AM - 4:15 PM (ET)
Place:
Virtual Training on Zoom
CEUs:
6
Type of CEUs*:
No items found.
Register Now
Lisa Ferentz
LCSW-C, DAPA
Presenter

Workshop Description:

Trauma informed therapists understand the connection between childhood abuse, and the neglect, and the parent-child attachment styles that emerge from these dysfunctional family systems. We will explore the impact of ambivalent, avoidant, and disorganized attachment, and how it creates a relational template that is reenacted by clients in their subsequent intimate relationships. We will connect early attachment experiences to hypo-arousal and hyper-arousal. Participants will learn how affect dysregulation and unresolved trauma impairs a couple's ability to communicate effectively, regulate emotional states, and hijacks their sexual intimacy. Participants will learn about the "optimal window of arousal" and what happens for couples when they get triggered and are unable to stay present with one another.

Since healthy attachment and connection is biologically rooted in somatic experiences, we will process somatic resourcing as a form of affect regulation, comfort, and containment. Breath work, hand-in-hand meditation, and a variety of simple techniques that incorporate, postures and soothing movements will help clients to reground and increase awareness of the body as a resource for comfort. These exercises offer reparative experiences of safety and connection while strengthening clients' abilities to self regulate and co-regulate, communicate their needs and appropriately comfort themselves and their partner. We will also address the triggering and dissociation that occurs for sexual abuse survivors when they attempt to be intimate. These strategies will increase clients' access to their own inner wisdom and healing powers, while helping therapists to feel more confident about moving forward with emotionally charged material in sessions.

Learning Objectives:

1. Explain the four attachment patterns in the parent child relationship and describe the manifestations of disorganized attachment.

2. Explain why the meaning of a traumatic event is as important as the event itself, and the impact it has on a couple's relationship.

3. Discuss the difference between inter regulation and auto and how they are connected to attachment.

4. Discuss the concept of the "optimal window of arousal" and the impact it has on couples therapy.

5. Explain the connection between trauma, a lack of secure attachment, and affect dysregulation.

6. Demonstrate at least two breathing techniques and one meditation, to increase grounding and self soothing.

7. Utilize at least four somatic resourcing techniques to enhance containment, safety, and comfort.

8. Describe and implement at least three strategies to help sexual abuse survivors navigate the challenges that arise during physical intimacy.

Agenda:

Time
Topics
8:45 AM - 10:15 AM

- Processing our earliest experiences with attachment

- Exploring four attachment patterns (videos)

- Processing the impact of disorganized attachment

- The challenge of attaching to abusive or emotionally unavailable caretakers

- Processing The Still Face experiment

10:15 AM - 10:30 AM
BREAK
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM

- Affect dysregulation and the window of arousal

- Defining trauma

- The meaning and the impact of trauma

- Working with dissociation and shame

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
LUNCH
1:00 - 2:30 PM

- Strengthening soothing with mirror neurons

- Somatic resourcing strategies

- Using breathwork for regrounding and calming

- Using power poses

- Hand-in-hand meditation exercise

2:30 PM - 2:45 PM
BREAK
2:45 PM - 4:15 PM

- Working with flashbacks

- Short circuiting dissociation

- Using aromatherapy

- Addressing child sexual abuse with adult survivors

- Incorporating remembered resources

Agenda:

Time
Topics
8:45 AM - 10:15 AM

- Processing our earliest experiences with attachment

- Exploring four attachment patterns (videos)

- Processing the impact of disorganized attachment

- The challenge of attaching to abusive or emotionally unavailable caretakers

- Processing The Still Face experiment

10:15 AM - 10:30 AM
BREAK
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM

- Affect dysregulation and the window of arousal

- Defining trauma

- The meaning and the impact of trauma

- Working with dissociation and shame

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
LUNCH
1:00 - 2:30 PM

- Strengthening soothing with mirror neurons

- Somatic resourcing strategies

- Using breathwork for regrounding and calming

- Using power poses

- Hand-in-hand meditation exercise

2:30 PM - 2:45 PM
BREAK
2:45 PM - 4:15 PM

- Working with flashbacks

- Short circuiting dissociation

- Using aromatherapy

- Addressing child sexual abuse with adult survivors

- Incorporating remembered resources

Agenda:

Time
Topics
8:45 AM - 10:15 AM
10:15 AM - 10:30 AM
BREAK
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM

Agenda:

Time
Topics
8:45 AM - 10:15 AM
10:15 AM - 10:30 AM
BREAK
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM

Agenda:

Time
Topics
12:45 PM - 2:15 PM
2:15 PM - 2:30 PM
BREAK
2:30 PM - 4:00 PM

Agenda:

Time
Topics
12:45 PM - 2:15 PM
2:15 PM - 2:30 PM
BREAK
2:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Event Image

(NEW) Trauma, Attachment and the Need for Affect Regulation Skills in Couples Work

Registration Fee:
$189
Date:
Monday,
December 22, 2025
Registration & Breakfast:
8:15 AM (ET)
Training:
8:45 AM - 4:15 PM (ET)
Place:
Virtual Training on Zoom
CEUs:
6
Type of CEUs*:
No items found.
Register Now
Lisa Ferentz
LCSW-C, DAPA
Presenter

Workshop Description:

Trauma informed therapists understand the connection between childhood abuse, and the neglect, and the parent-child attachment styles that emerge from these dysfunctional family systems. We will explore the impact of ambivalent, avoidant, and disorganized attachment, and how it creates a relational template that is reenacted by clients in their subsequent intimate relationships. We will connect early attachment experiences to hypo-arousal and hyper-arousal. Participants will learn how affect dysregulation and unresolved trauma impairs a couple's ability to communicate effectively, regulate emotional states, and hijacks their sexual intimacy. Participants will learn about the "optimal window of arousal" and what happens for couples when they get triggered and are unable to stay present with one another.

Since healthy attachment and connection is biologically rooted in somatic experiences, we will process somatic resourcing as a form of affect regulation, comfort, and containment. Breath work, hand-in-hand meditation, and a variety of simple techniques that incorporate, postures and soothing movements will help clients to reground and increase awareness of the body as a resource for comfort. These exercises offer reparative experiences of safety and connection while strengthening clients' abilities to self regulate and co-regulate, communicate their needs and appropriately comfort themselves and their partner. We will also address the triggering and dissociation that occurs for sexual abuse survivors when they attempt to be intimate. These strategies will increase clients' access to their own inner wisdom and healing powers, while helping therapists to feel more confident about moving forward with emotionally charged material in sessions.

Learning Objectives:

1. Explain the four attachment patterns in the parent child relationship and describe the manifestations of disorganized attachment.

2. Explain why the meaning of a traumatic event is as important as the event itself, and the impact it has on a couple's relationship.

3. Discuss the difference between inter regulation and auto and how they are connected to attachment.

4. Discuss the concept of the "optimal window of arousal" and the impact it has on couples therapy.

5. Explain the connection between trauma, a lack of secure attachment, and affect dysregulation.

6. Demonstrate at least two breathing techniques and one meditation, to increase grounding and self soothing.

7. Utilize at least four somatic resourcing techniques to enhance containment, safety, and comfort.

8. Describe and implement at least three strategies to help sexual abuse survivors navigate the challenges that arise during physical intimacy.

Agenda:

Time
Topics
8:45 AM - 10:15 AM

- Processing our earliest experiences with attachment

- Exploring four attachment patterns (videos)

- Processing the impact of disorganized attachment

- The challenge of attaching to abusive or emotionally unavailable caretakers

- Processing The Still Face experiment

10:15 AM - 10:30 AM
BREAK
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM

- Affect dysregulation and the window of arousal

- Defining trauma

- The meaning and the impact of trauma

- Working with dissociation and shame

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
LUNCH
1:00 - 2:30 PM

- Strengthening soothing with mirror neurons

- Somatic resourcing strategies

- Using breathwork for regrounding and calming

- Using power poses

- Hand-in-hand meditation exercise

2:30 PM - 2:45 PM
BREAK
2:45 PM - 4:15 PM

- Working with flashbacks

- Short circuiting dissociation

- Using aromatherapy

- Addressing child sexual abuse with adult survivors

- Incorporating remembered resources

Agenda:

Time
Topics
8:45 AM - 10:15 AM

- Processing our earliest experiences with attachment

- Exploring four attachment patterns (videos)

- Processing the impact of disorganized attachment

- The challenge of attaching to abusive or emotionally unavailable caretakers

- Processing The Still Face experiment

10:15 AM - 10:30 AM
BREAK
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM

- Affect dysregulation and the window of arousal

- Defining trauma

- The meaning and the impact of trauma

- Working with dissociation and shame

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
LUNCH
1:00 - 2:30 PM

- Strengthening soothing with mirror neurons

- Somatic resourcing strategies

- Using breathwork for regrounding and calming

- Using power poses

- Hand-in-hand meditation exercise

2:30 PM - 2:45 PM
BREAK
2:45 PM - 4:15 PM

- Working with flashbacks

- Short circuiting dissociation

- Using aromatherapy

- Addressing child sexual abuse with adult survivors

- Incorporating remembered resources

Agenda:

Time
Topics
8:45 AM - 10:15 AM
10:15 AM - 10:30 AM
BREAK
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM

Agenda:

Time
Topics
8:45 AM - 10:15 AM
10:15 AM - 10:30 AM
BREAK
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM

Agenda:

Time
Topics
12:45 PM - 2:15 PM
2:15 PM - 2:30 PM
BREAK
2:30 PM - 4:00 PM

Agenda:

Time
Topics
12:45 PM - 2:15 PM
2:15 PM - 2:30 PM
BREAK
2:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Additional Information:
- For more information on the Hilton Garden Inn in Owings Mills, Maryland, click here.

- Registration for each workshop closes one day before the workshop date. If you want to sign up for this course and missed the registration deadline, please don't worry. You can still contact Gerri Baum at gerrib@theferentzinstitute.com or call 410-409-7061 to inquire about joining the class. We will do our best to accommodate you.

- The Ferentz Institute does not offer refunds for paid workshops. If you cancel or miss a workshop for any reason, we will be happy to offer you a credit to use towards any current or future training with the Institute.

- Workshops may be canceled by the Institute due to low registration, presenter emergencies, or inclement weather. Participants will be notified, usually one week in advance. Paid registrants can choose a full refund or apply the payment to another class. Additionally, all participants will receive a $25 discount on a future session as compensation for any inconvenience.

We appreciate your interest in our workshops and look forward to seeing you soon!
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The Ferentz Institute, Inc. is an approved sponsor of the Maryland Board of Social Work Examiners for continuing education credits for licensed social workers in Maryland. CEU approval for all trainings is also granted to Psychologists, LCPC’s and MFT’s and approved by the Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists and the Board of Examiners for Psychologists in Maryland. Reciprocity has also been granted for clinicians in Washington, DC, Virginia, West Virginia, Indiana, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Texas. All mental health clinicians are encouraged to check with their respective State Boards to learn if reciprocity is offered for our CEUs. The Institute also maintains full responsibility for all programming.

*Please note that, for workshops that offer CEUs in Anti-Oppressive Content, Ethics, and/or Diversity, those credits may only be used for one of those categories, not all.