Attachment Theory Training for Psychologists
Most attachment theory training is built for early childhood educators or written for parents trying to understand their own kids. If you're a registered psychologist working with adult clients, that's the wrong depth entirely. You already understand the theory, Bowlby, Ainsworth, the basic styles. What's harder is recognising how your own attachment patterns shape the way you sit with a client, what you notice, what you avoid, and what shows up in your countertransference before you've consciously named it.
Why Attachment Theory Belongs in Every Relational Practice
Attachment isn't a separate modality you bolt onto your existing work, it's the substrate underneath psychodynamic and relational therapy. Your own attachment style shapes your countertransference in every session, how you respond to a withdrawing client, an anxious one, a client who tests the relationship. Training that treats attachment as insight into your own clinical stance, not just a framework for understanding a client's history, is what closes the gap between knowing the theory and using it.
What This Training Covers
• How your own attachment style shapes your countertransference, and what that reveals about the client in the room
• Integrating attachment insight into dynamic formulation, not as a separate model bolted onto psychodynamic work
• Recognising attachment-driven patterns in your own relational stance as a clinician, before you look for them in the client
• Bringing attachment theory into practice through the neuroscience of connection, the same lens used throughout the 4 week and 8 week programs
Who This Is For
Registered psychologists/therapists working relationally or psychodynamically with adult clients, who want their existing theoretical knowledge of attachment to actually change how a session goes. You don't need to be a member of the APS or AAPI to take this training or claim the CPD hours, it's open to any registered psychologist/therapist or counsellor.
Not Sure Where to Start?
If you're unsure how your own attachment style shows up in your clinical work, and it does, take the Attachment Style Quiz for Psychologists first. It's a two-minute way to see this training's relevance before you commit to anything.
CPD-Accredited, Applied Immediately
This training sits inside Deep Mind's core programs. The Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Training is the short, practical foundation, bringing in attachment theory and the neuroscience of connection from week one. Module 2 of the 8 week Mastery Journey, Countertransference as a Clinical Compass, goes further, integrating attachment insight directly into dynamic formulation. Whether you start with the 4 week Transformation Method (11 APS CPD hours) or the 8 week Mastery Journey (20 APS CPD hours), attachment work is built in, not bolted on.
About Tania Kalkidis
Tania Kalkidis is a registered clinical psychologist (AHPRA PSY0000976980), member of the Australian Psychological Society and Australian Association of Psychologists Inc, and founder of Deep Mind Psychodynamic Training, with 34 years of clinical experience training psychologists in relational, attachment-informed practice.
FAQs
Do I need specialist attachment training experience already?
No, this builds on the theory you already know from your registration training, the focus is clinical application, not re-teaching Bowlby and Ainsworth.
Is this a course about treating client attachment styles?
Not primarily. This is about how your own attachment patterns shape your countertransference and clinical formulation, the same lens used throughout the 4 week and 8 week programs, rather than a standalone client-treatment framework.
Do I need to be an APS or AAPI member?
No, any registered psychologist can take this training and claim the CPD hours.
How is this different from a general attachment theory course?
Most attachment theory courses are written for early childhood educators or parents. This is built specifically around the psychologist's own clinical stance and adult therapeutic work.
Find out now how your own unique attachment style shows up in your work.
