PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
Working with Trauma and Attachment Injury in Couples
About the webinar
Trauma often enters couples therapy quietly, through reactivity, shutdown, mistrust, or repeated conflict that feels bigger than the present moment. Attachment injuries and unresolved trauma can shape how partners interpret threat, closeness, and safety with each other. This training supports clinicians to recognise trauma-informed patterns in couples work and respond in ways that reduce re injury and support emotional safety.
What You'll Learn
How past trauma shows up in couple conflict
An exploration of how unresolved trauma can surface through heightened reactivity, shutdown, mistrust, or conflict that feels disproportionate to the present situation. This section focuses on recognising when past experiences are shaping current relational responses.
The link between attachment injury, threat, and reactivity
A discussion of how attachment injuries increase sensitivity to threat and influence how partners interpret behaviour, intent, and safety. You will learn how fear of loss, abandonment, or rejection can drive reactive patterns in conflict.
How trauma responses can look like anger, withdrawal, or control
An overview of how trauma responses often present indirectly in relationships, including through anger, emotional withdrawal, hypervigilance, or attempts to control outcomes. This section supports clinicians to look beyond behaviour to underlying protective needs.
How to recognise when conflict is trauma driven rather than situational
Guidance on differentiating between everyday relationship disagreements and conflict that is being amplified by trauma responses. This includes noticing patterns of intensity, repetition, and emotional overwhelm that signal trauma involvement.
How to work with attachment injuries without overwhelming either partner
An exploration of pacing and containment when addressing attachment injuries, including how to acknowledge impact and vulnerability without pushing couples into unsafe or destabilising territory.
How to support safety, pacing, and stabilisation in couples sessions
Practical guidance on creating emotional safety in the therapy room, supporting regulation, and slowing the work when needed. This section focuses on stabilisation as a foundation for meaningful relational repair.
Whats included
Develop a trauma informed approach to couples work that recognises attachment injury and its impact on safety and connection.
Case examples illustrating trauma shaped couple dynamics
Clinical frameworks for assessing trauma impact in relationships
Practical tools to support regulation and emotional safety
Guidance on pacing couples work when trauma is present
Who Should Attend?
Who is it for
Especially helpful for clinicians working with couples where conflict escalates quickly, emotions feel disproportionate, trust feels fragile, or past experiences continue to intrude into the present relationship.
Level of experience
Suitable for early-career and experienced clinicians. Previous training in couples therapy is highly recommended.
This training is not a certification program or a replacement for supervision. It focuses on core clinical understanding and practical tools rather than advanced modality-specific training.
Length
3 hours
Confirm Your Attendance
Join this live, three hour training for therapists who want to feel more confident and steady when working with conflict in the room.
This session focuses on practical skills, therapist self awareness, and clear ways to support couples through difficult moments.