Open help menu
In Person

The Path Back to Connection: Healing Attachment Wounds Through the Deep Brain

|

Information

Date & Time

Location

Description

Clinicians recognize that healing attachment wounds is central to trauma treatment, yet many traditional approaches often fall short by emphasizing cognitive and behavioral strategies while overlooking the body's implicit, neurobiological memory of relational trauma. This workshop offers a crucial, integrated perspective, bridging established attachment theory with cutting-edge, neuroscience-informed interventions that target the deep brain—the subcortical engine of safety, regulation, and connection. Join us to move beyond talk therapy and gain an integrated understanding of how deep brain processes influence attachment formation, regulation, and repair. You’ll acquire foundational knowledge and practical tools to address the physiological and emotional dimensions of attachment wounding, helping your clients move toward genuine safety, connection, and integration.

Educational Goal

The educational goal of this workshop is to provide clinicians with foundational knowledge of the deep brain neurobiology of attachment, alongside practical applications of SSP and DBR as tools for treating attachment-related symptoms and promoting safety, connection, and integration.

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

  • Examine key principles of attachment theory and Deirdre Fay’s Fundamental Needs framework to gain an understanding of attachment wounding.

  • Describe the basic neurobiology of the deep brain, including how subcortical structures contribute to attachment, regulation, and defensive responses.

  • Explain how attachment wounding manifests in physiological and emotional symptoms related to disrupted safety and connection.

  • Discuss how the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) supports nervous system regulation and facilitates deeper relational healing.

  • Explain how Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR) addresses implicit, subcortical patterns associated with attachment trauma to promote integration and resolution.

Target Audience

  • Addiction Professional
  • Counselor
  • Marriage & Family Therapist
  • Psychologist
  • Social Worker

Presenters

Originally from Mississippi, Susan Love, MS, LPC, EMDR moved to Tucson in 2016 to complete her Master’s level internship at a residential eating disorder treatment center. It was there she realized the importance of addressing the root cause of a person’s symptoms which led her to advanced training and education in the treatment of trauma. As a result, she has completed trainings in the Trauma Resiliency Model (TRM), Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), Equilateral: The Equine-Assisted EMDR Protocol, Structural Dissociation Theory, Safe and Sound Protocol, Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR) Levels 1-3, advanced training in the Alexander Technique/DBR Interweaves, and she is also a DBR training assistant. She is currently in consultation working on completing her certification as an approved DBR Practitioner (DBR-P). In 2021-2024, Susan served as the President of the Tucson Chapter International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals, an organization focused on the education of providers treating persons with eating disorders and community prevention efforts. Her work in the field of eating disorders involves advocacy for those struggling with disordered eating to receive non-stigmatizing, weight neutral care. Susan also provides case consultation to other providers on the intersection of trauma, dissociation, and disordered eating. She practices and lives her own life from a non diet, Health at Every Size framework and enjoys helping people break free from the grips of diet and wellness culture. In her work with clients, Susan believes in the power of the therapeutic relationship and uses this as the foundation of her work. She knows first hand healing cannot take place without a felt sense of safety and works to embody the practices and therapies she brings to her clients. She invites clients to go where she has gone in her own healing journey. Susan brings her passion for knowledge, desire for healing, and deep compassion for those who are suffering to the work she does.

Financially Sponsored By

  • Sabino Recovery