Life-Long Love: How healthy attachment develops and is maintained across the lifespan

According to Bowlby, the father of Attachment Theory, from "the cradle to the grave, the ability to turn to others for emotional support" is a "sign and source of strength".

But what does this "effective dependency" look like beyond childhood? How does attachment influence the intimate relationships we form as adults, and how do our early experiences shape the way we connect with others throughout our lives?

And perhaps most importantly, if we did not experience good enough attachment in our early years, can things change? Or are we destined to repeat the same patterns?

In this presentation, Dr Ruth McConnell will explore the roots of attachment in early life and how these experiences can contribute to emotional maturity, resilience, and our ability to remain open to love and connection throughout the lifespan.

Ruth will introduce the concept of Earned Secure Attachment, exploring how secure attachment can develop later in life even when it was not experienced in childhood.This provides an important and hopeful perspective for understanding how attachment can be healed and how the transmission of attachment wounds can be prevented.

The presentation will also explore Gottman's Strong Relationship House as a practical framework for understanding and building resilient adult attachments within intimate relationships.

In this webinar, we will explore:

• The roots of attachment and how early experiences influence relationships across the lifespan

• What “effective dependency” can look like in adult relationships

• The development of emotional maturity and its relationship to healthy attachment

• Earned Secure Attachment and the possibility of healing attachment patterns later in life

• How attachment wounds can be prevented from being passed on to future generations

• The role of attachment in adult intimate relationships

• Gottman’s Strong Relationship House as a practical framework for strengthening adult relationships

Who is this webinar for?

This professional development webinar will be relevant to counsellors, social workers, therapists, educators and others supporting individuals, couples and families across Aotearoa.

CPD LEARNING

This three-hour professional development webinar provides 3 hours of CPD learning. Participants are encouraged to retain their registration confirmation and attendance details for their professional CPD records.

About Dr Ruth McConnell

Dr Ruth McConnell has presented professional development workshops for Life A Plenty Charitable Trust on a number of occasions. Her work brings together an understanding of relationships, emotional wellbeing and family life in ways that are practical and highly relevant to those working alongside children, adults and families. www.ruthmcconnell.com

Join us for an engaging evening exploring how attachment continues to shape our relationships throughout life, and the possibility of developing healthier and more secure ways of connecting.

All proceeds from Life A Plenty professional development workshops help support our free Recuperative Retreats for women in the wider Bay of Plenty.