INTRODUCTORY COURSE ON DYNAMIC-MATURATIONAL MODEL (DMM) OF ATTACHMENT AND ADAPTATION
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    WHAT WILL IT BE?
    Introductory three-day course. This is a great opportunity to get acquainted with the basics of DMM, the classification of attachment subtypes and how this knowledge can be used in clinical practice
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    WHO WILL CONDUCT IT?
    Certified Trainer of the Patricia Crittenden Institute – Clark Baim
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    WHEN?
    October 27,28, November 4, 2023.
    5 hours of daily training for three days, starting at 14:00
    Format: Online
Dynamic-Maturational Model (DMM) of Attachment and Adaptation that is it?
Dynamic-Maturational Model (DMM) of Attachment and Adaptation developed by a student of Mary Ainsworth (the creator of the famous experiment "Unfamiliar Situation", who identified three types of attachment) – Patricia Crittenden.

The DMM model is unique in that it considers a person's behavioral and mental patterns as the most effective strategy for responding to danger in different contexts of life and at different age stages, as well as the author's specification of well-known attachment strategies.

Patricia Crittenden continued her work with the attachment types identified by M. Ainsworth and created a unique system of attachment subgroups that describes in detail the features of mental and behavioral patterns in people with different attachment strategies.

The DMM is based on the idea that the experience of mental and physical care in a child depends on the quality of an adult's care, his sensitivity to recognizing the needs of a child, their satisfaction, and the predictability of adult reactions. Attachment strategies are considered as the most adaptive mechanisms for building security relationships with a significant attachment figure. That is, no matter how the parent manifests himself, the child will build a relationship with him, the function of which is to increase the well–being of the relationship. It is assumed that the price that a child will pay is how he will function when he grows up. The variants of functioning are described in detail in the classification of P. Crittenden.

The work of P. Crittenden is also interesting in the interpretation of the last – the fourth type of attachment, which Mary Main called disorganized. Patricia Crittenden, on the other hand, identified this strategy as the most suitable for dangerous conditions of human development and therefore called it a complex organized attachment strategy.

This unique classification includes 4 main attachment strategies and 12 subtypes (for adults).
It can help to deeply understand the client:
Mental patterns
Behavioral patterns
Attachment Needs and Fears
Why do I need DMM if I am a practicing psychologist?
Psychotherapeutic approaches based on attachment theory will certainly find the DMM model useful
  • understand the intentions of customers behind the various attachment behaviors
  • better understand customer attachment fears
  • better understand customer attachment needs
  • it is more delicate to use therapeutic techniques (for example, EFT: empathic assumption, redefinition of behavior, reflection of intentions, scheme therapy: empathic confrontation, etc.)
Pinpoint knowledge of attachment features can enhance the therapist's work, for example:
the knowledge that angry manifestations may not have a communicative function, but a function of self-regulation
knowledge about the specifics of the anxiety-ambivalent strategy, for example: demonstration of anger or demonstration of helplessness (which corresponds to subtypes C3-C4 according to the Crittenden classification)
knowledge about the specifics of avoiding strategies (for example, compulsive care, compulsive obedience, which corresponds to subtypes A3-A4 according to the Crittenden classification)
and multi-point knowledge that helps to understand the client's attachment strategies more deeply, identify them and help to process inefficient ones
This knowledge is especially valuable if your client has a different attachment strategy from yours, and you have difficulty
understanding the client and building an alliance with him

This training event will introduce participants to key concepts in the field of attachment theory, focusing on Crittenden’s Dynamic-Maturational Model (DMM) of Attachment and Adaptation. The DMM provides a strengths-based, function-focused alternative to symptom-based diagnosis. We will apply this theory to working with adults, children, and families. We will give particular attention to working with adults and adolescents who may be a danger to themselves or other people, or who may enter therapy or come to the attention of criminal justice, mental health or social care professionals. The course will use presentation and discussion to explore how attachment theory can inform a deeper understanding of the people we work with and the approaches that may help them to better understand themselves, improve their relationships and live more fulfilling lives.
The training will be led by Clark Baim, PhD, and is based on his two co-written books entitled ‘Attachment-based Practice with Adults’ and ‘Attachment-based Practice with Children, Adolescents and Families.’
Day One: Theory
• Introduction to attachment theory, specifically Crittenden’s Dynamic-Maturational Model (DMM) of Attachment and Adaptation, which provides a strengths-based, function-focused alternative to symptom-based diagnosis.
• Understanding why attachment theory is a key to understanding the development of psychological illness, personality disorders and offending behaviour.
• How attachment theory signals the importance of relationship-based practice, self-awareness, and self-reflection on the part of the worker.
• Understanding the relationship between psychological trauma and attachment strategies: A bio-psycho-social approach.
Day Two: Assessment and Formulation
• Introduction to several assessment procedures used within the Dynamic-Maturational Model, for different ages and for parent-child relationships.
• Introduction to discourse analysis: understanding how attachment strategies are expressed in speech and behaviour.
• Introduction to integrating DMM attachment theory with a variety of treatment models and approaches.
• Principles of purposeful eclecticism: adapting the intervention to the attachment strategies.
• Introduction to family–systemic formulations and treatment planning based on the DMM model
Day Three: Treatment Planning and Intervention
• Introduction to: applying the theory to treatment planning and intervention.
• Exploring different approaches to intervention and principles of treatment emerging from the attachment-based model.
• The LEARN Model for promoting narrative integration.
Tools and techniques for attachment-based interventions
Who is it for?
The course is intended for professionals in the mental health, social care, criminal justice, educational and voluntary (NGO) sectors. People in professions related to these can all benefit from the course. The course is suitable for post-qualified professionals and is also suitable for PhD and masters level researchers and academics. Participants with experience of working directly with people are best suited to the course, because of their practical experience of listening and responding to spoken discourse.
Note: People who attend this course will be well prepared to take the more formal and in-depth training offered in the DMM, such as the Attachment and Psychopathology course and introductory courses for the Adult Attachment Interview. Information about how to access these courses will be provided
Clark Baim, PhD, UKCP, BPA, is a registered psychotherapist (UK Council for Psychotherapy) and a registered Senior Trainer and Clinical Supervisor with the British Psychodrama Association. He is in the teaching faculty of the Family Relations Institute, which is the official training organisation for the DMM. He was the Honorary President of the British Psychodrama Association from 2017 to 2022. In the 1990s, Clark worked as a group psychotherapist for five years at HM Prison Grendon, near Aylesbury, UK. From 1999 to 2012, Clark was contracted as Co-Lead National Trainer for the UK Probation Service’s Sexual Offending Groupwork Programmes in England and Wales.
Clark has focused for twenty years on the study of attachment theory and the Dynamic-Maturational Model (DMM) of Attachment and Adaptation with Dr. Patricia Crittenden. He developed and co-ran, with Tony Morrison, a popular four-day course on attachment-based interviewing. With Tony Morrison, Clark co-wrote Attachment-based Practice with Adults: Understanding Strategies and Promoting Positive Change (2011, Pavilion, now in its second edition, 2023), and in 2022, he published Attachment-based Practice with Children, Adolescents and Families, co-authored with Lydia Guthrie, Ezra Loh and Satbinder Kaur Bhogal. These books form the basis of this training. Clark has published widely on various aspects of attachment theory, psychodrama, offender treatment, supervision, co-working, applied theatre and groupwork methods. He is also the Co-Director of the Birmingham Institute for Psychodrama, a psychotherapy training organisation in the UK
This training will not be recorded
At the end of the training, participants will be issued a certificate of completion of training
About the Institute
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