Does love have a place in therapy?

Decades of scientific, empirical evidence tells us that when we are deeply connected to another person, our physiological and neurological systems synchronise in experiences of embodied attunement. These empirical research findings have historically been considered separately from the humanistic and transpersonal psychotherapy literature, where, also over many decades, therapists and theorists have named and described moments of deep connection between therapist and client. Now, perhaps for the first time, we are beginning to understand the meaning and significance of these experiences, which I describe as moments of love.  These moments are developmentally crucial, and are a vital component of healing in psychotherapy.

This research is of fundamental importance to us as therapists. But this research evidence is not the whole story - it is up to us to make meaning of this science. In this workshop we will come together to consider what moments of attunement feel like in the room, and the significance they hold for us as relational beings. In our time together, we will have the opportunity to learn, reflect, discuss and experience. The workshop brings together cutting-edge research with a consideration of deeply human, embodied relationships, holding the spiritual along with the scientific, as we reflect on how relationships heal us.

The aims of the workshop -

- To develop participants' understanding of embodied attunement

- To expand and deepen participants' knowledge and awareness of moments of love in therapy.

The objectives -

- To learn about the ways in which love has been understood as part of the therapeutic relationship

- To review the evidence on embodied attunement

- To experience embodied attunement

The learning outcomes - by the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

- Understand how love has been understood in the therapy literature

- Recognise embodied attunement in their therapeutic practice

- Explain the significance of embodied attunement

- Apply their understanding of moments of love to their therapeutic relationships

Description supplied by the event organiser.