Blog

How can we help avoidant clients to drop their defences and allow deep emotions to emerge? In her sixth blog about working with highly defended clients, Attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapist Linda Cundy discusses the centrality of affect regulation and mourning in this work, taking in the role of countertransference, self-compassion and humour, Fairbairn’s ‘moral defence’ and Stern’s ‘moments of meeting’.

Avoidant personalities come in many different shapes and sizes, and may even be reacting to the coronavirus crisis in quite contrasting ways. In her fifth blog about working with highly defended clients, Attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapist Linda Cundy considers the contribution of a person’s sensitivity to their relational environment, and the role of secondary defences.

How might social distancing and social-isolation be affecting clients depending on their attachment patterns? In her fourth blog about working with highly defended clients, Attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapist Linda Cundy spots an opportunity for therapists to explore issues around intimacy, need, contamination, intrusion and self-protection.

How might we begin to work with clients with avoidant attachment patterns? In her third blog about working with highly defended clients, Attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapist Linda Cundy shares how she has engaged clients who have learned to hide their needs and avoid commitment.

Why is it important to recognise avoidant attachment patterns early in therapy, and what might we look out for? In her second blog about working with highly defended clients, Attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapist Linda Cundy explains why the therapeutic relationship poses such a problem for avoidant individuals – and shares some key features that may show up in assessment.

Could we be doing more for highly defended clients? Attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapist Linda Cundy believes so. Embarking on a monthly blog series on working with avoidant attachment, she introduces some common characteristics among avoidant clients, and suggests four key ways in which therapists can help to engage them in therapy.