Attachment in Adolescence: The Wonky Brain that Allows for Change
Presenter(s)
Annette Kussin, MSW,RSW, Psychotherapist, MFT
The adolescent brain is wonky and unpredictable because of changes in hormones and other chemicals. Changes in the adolescent brain make this an opportune time to help adolescents with insecure attachments start to develop secure attachments. Although by adolescence attachment categories are imbedded in personality and the brain, the changes in the brains of adolescents allow for the adolescent to have insight into their attachment patterns and the impact on their relationships. They are able to examine their relationships with parents, to reflect on their patterns in relationships with peers and other adults, to leave behind the harmful patterns of relating they learned from their families and to risk creating new patterns in their relationships.
This workshop will explore attachment in adolescents and examine the categories of attachment as they develop in adolescence. The workshop will present the latest information on brain development in adolescence and its implications for therapy. A model of treatment will be presented that focuses on family therapy for younger adolescents and individual therapy for older adolescents. Individual therapy is effective in helping older adolescents develop awareness of their early history and its influence on their present sense of self and patterns in relationships. The relationship with the therapist is the crucial vehicle for change. The goal of attachment focused therapy for adolescents is to help the adolescent become more secure and enter adulthood with the capacity for secure adult attachments.
Early Bird rate: $185.00 +HST