How feedback using the AAP resonates with client’s lived experiences (1.5 CEs)
SPA E-Learning Center | 2024 SPA Convention
Abstract
This symposium presents clinical cases to examine how using the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP) in treatment opens the door for exploration and initiating repair for unresolved attachment trauma. Central to this symposium is demonstrating how the AAP was used in a range of therapy contexts, including individual, family, and couples. Paper 1 describes how the therapist created a joint feedback meeting with a 20-year-old OCD client and her parents. The client was also diagnosed with narcissistic character style and a moderately severe anxiety disorder. Two linchpin AAP stories were selected to use in feedback to help the family explore the client’s underlying unresolved attachment status. The themes from these stories helped the client and her parents see and name how deactivating defenses and role reversed caretaking shielded the client from her trauma and inability to express her deep need for care to parents Paper 2 demonstrates using the AAP in couples assessment. The discussion describes the effects of making direct connections between the AAP and their life experiences. It shows how the AAP helped build empathy and understanding for themselves and one another and help them understand exactly what they needed to do to be more present for one another in their marriage. Paper 3 illustrates the use of the AAP in treating complex trauma in a 61-year-old male patient. The AAP brought his trauma and relational distress to the surface and allowed the clinician and patient to better understand the role trauma had in blocking self-repair. Pairing the AAP with the Early memories Procedure helped the patient experience some of the painful emotions he had buried (deactivated) from his childhood. The discussion highlights how the AAP gives therapists and their clients a window into their lived experiences. Once uncovered, clients are more able to talk about their attachment trauma. As their defenses “soften,” they no longer need to camouflage their “true” attachment experiences and their feelings of shame and vulnerability. Uncovering and providing a new lens for discussing lived experiences helps set the course for psychotherapy in a range of therapy contexts.
Chair
Carol George | Mills College at Northeastern University
Discussant
Melissa Lehmann | Center for Therapeutic Assessment, Austin, TX
Goals & Objectives
- Demonstrate using the results of the AAP with clients with unresolved attachment trauma in a range of therapy contexts.
- Discuss the nuances of how attachment themes emerging from the AAP used in tandem with a narrative assessment measure can uncover and understand clients’ trauma histories.
- Demonstrate how unresolved attachment status influences marital relationships.
- Discuss important areas of consideration when using the AAP with couples.
- Demonstrate the power of using AAP stories in developing reciprocal perspective taking in young adults and their parents.