Attachment, Trauma, and Psychotherapy: Neural Integration as a Pathway to Resilience and Well-Being

Personal transformation is brought about through the compassionate and empowering setting of a therapeutic relationship. Importantly, we come to discover the “we-state” that enables many clients to experience a sense of vulnerability, safety, and openness to change.  These internal and interpersonal experiences also support the exploration of the deepest existential issues of life and death that often remain either far from awareness or a source of perpetual terror and fear. The emergence of integration in a person’s life during therapy is not an end-point, but rather the beginning of a way of awakening the individual’s mind to become more connected internally and as a fuller member of humanity. Ultimately, compassion and kindness, toward the self and others, can be seen as integration made visible. This is the process of the therapeutic journey and the way in which integration prepares the individual to become more resilient, have emotional equilibrium, and to create more meaningful connections with others, and the self.