
Professional Development Training in BodyDreaming® Module 6:
Attunement and Attachment: Finding That Secure Base Within
Part 3, June 16th-18th, 2023
with Marian Dunlea with Wendy Bratherton,
Patricia Grey Amante & Abigail Whyte
We continue the BodyDreaming training journey with Module 6: “Attunement and Attachment: Finding That Secure Base Within
- Part Three”. As we explored in Modules 4 and 5, BodyDreaming highlights the relational aspect of regulation – co-regulation
with the other. It is a process that connects us deeply to an embodied core sense of self in relationship to the other.
The attachment patterns and wiring of the brain are impacted by the relationship between the primary carer and the infant. Earlier
still the environment of the womb is the primary experience of regulation. The regulatory process in the infant’s nervous system
is established by the to-ing and fro-ing from times of calm to times of stimulation in the relationship between the infant and the
environment. A lack of regulation produces insecure attachment.
As we grow we are not always met how we would wish, and insecure attachment patterns can also form as a result of life’s
challenges, traumas and limitations.
In this module, Part Three of Attunement and Attachment: Finding That Secure Base Within, we will continue the work of
renegotiating our habitual insecure attachment patterns and responses. These patterns are often laid down in the first 36 months of
life before the hippocampus is fully functioning, which is responsible for memory encoding and memory consolidation.
Experiences during this formative time are stored in “implicit memory”, in our body, out of our conscious awareness or verbal
expression. We will work to uncouple and free up body memory that may be connected to attachment patterns.
“Implicit memory can influence our present without our awareness that something from the past is affecting us.” (Siegel, 2010,
p.149)
With this practice we can experience an embodied core sense of self which forms the base for a learned secure attachment style.
In this module we will continue in our small groups to practice Attunement, Slowing down the process, and Titrating
overwhelm. We will explore such topics as Implicit memory, Coupling and Uncoupling, Dissociation, Freeze and Shame.
The training weekend will comprise of theory and practice, experiential learning and embodied practice sessions, dream work,
movement, voice work, ritual and art. We work in large group sessions and in small break-out practice sessions. We have a group
of assistants providing containment and guidance for the small break out practice sessions. Each small break-out group will have
an assistant present.
Module 6 Modalities
Dates:
Friday June 16th from 2pm to 8pm
Saturday June 17th from 2pm to 8pm
Sunday June 18th from 2pm to 5pm
Time zone:
Dublin, Ireland (currently Irish Standard Time) (GMT+1)
Venue:
Online via Zoom
Please plan on attending all sessions.
Tuition Fee:
€390
CPDs:
15 hours
New participants will receive a recording from the previous module to view and are also recommended to view the recording of
the online Introductory Workshop.
Please contact us at BodyDreaming@gmail.com to receive the application form.
Instructions about payment will be provided once your application has been processed.
Module 6: Recommended Reading
Chapters 5: Working with Dissociative and Disoriented Attachment Patterns (1: The Child fell off the chair)
and Chapter 6: Working with Dissociative and Disoriented Attachment Patterns (2: It’s all about trusting your gut)
In BodyDreaming in the Treatment of Developmental Trauma: An Embodied Therapeutic Approach, by Marian Dunlea
(Routledge, 2019).