How is attachment theory and practice relevant to Genetic Alliance as a patient advocate community?
Attachment theory offers a rich literature which you can explore beginning with the resources on our website, Attachment Resources. Initially, we’ll just offer highlights, but hopefully we can extend our work on this blog to become increasingly inclusive of material relevant to you and your interests. Do comment, ask questions, and give feedback which we will monitor and respond to.
However, let’s dive into the middle for the moment. Here are some potential answers and links to discover more.
1. If you have a chronically ill family member, you know the stress that puts you under. If you are married, it puts your marriage under increased pressure which can bring you closer, but it can also expose and/or create ruptures in the relationship. Sue Johnson’s work, including the article she’s co-authored, Emotionally Focused Marital Intervention for Couples With Chronically III Children, offers multiple benefits—deep empathy with the challenges that parents and all caregivers experience, insights into attachment theory, and a proven methodology for reducing relational stress. Introducing yourself to this material will also prepare you for the Sue’s plenary, opening of the Attachment conference and for her special break-out session with Genetic Alliance on Friday afternoon of the conference.
2. We know that those attracted to the Attachment conference from our GA community are leaders. The concept of being a secure attachment figure—i.e. one who can be trusted to be there for another, or for others, in times of distress, need, or crisis—as a leader has profound implications for a) how we see ourselves as leaders, b) what is required of us as leaders personally (in developing ourselves emotionally as well as behaviorally), and c) how we influence the individuals, teams, Boards and/or membership of the organizations we are a part of. In this conference, you will have the opportunity to explore your own leadership identity and capacity as well as learn specific tools for increasing the degree to which you are a secure attachment figure as a leader. See the article by Duncan Fraser, What Attachment Theory Can Teach Us About Leadership as a starter on this one.
3. As a final resource, we would direct you to the unique opportunity you will have to hear John Paul Lederach, a world leader in conflict transformation. He is a man who prefers to work at the grassroots, to engage what appear to be intractable problems, and to hold the space for those who are most affected by those problems to solve them. His work is a metaphor for the challenges we face as patient advocates as well as being an inspiration to all of us who care about the larger world. For many of us in the Genetic Alliance community who are committed to working in the systems that we live in such as healthcare, he also models system transformation. You can link to these resources Experience in International Peace-Building – Mediate.com Video, go to YouTube and watch his extended lecture at Regis University, or order his latest book, Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace.
As mentioned, feel free to post comments so that we can create as much of a dialogue as possible.
I find this process of "diving into the middle" extremely helpful as I begin to apply the concepts in this blog to my own experience and expectations for what I will get out of the conference. Specifically to #2 included above, I remember times when I was not a "secure attachment figure." Times when I felt I didn't have the tools to be there for someone. I recently had an interaction that unearthed the feelings of vulnerability and fear I experienced over ten years ago as I watched a friend of mine self-destruct. This blog, and the attachment conference, is an invitation to me to not only remember those feelings but to re-experience them, understand them, and grow from them.
ReplyDeleteAt Genetic Alliance, we often say growth is like a spiral staircase--you often come full circle in your growth, but you arrive at where you were more aware, more firm in who you are (or in some instances, with an awareness of where you are weak). You are farther along your path of discovery. I feel now as if I am a few twists above where I was ten years ago, able to look over the rail at my younger self and to learn from the events that are unfolding, experience them differently, more deeply, with more security, more tools. What an invitation!