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Interpreting Unconscious Patterns in Relationships: An Attachment-Informed Approach

- 18th February 2025, Tuesday
Interpreting Unconscious Patterns in Relationships: An Attachment-Informed Approach
In psychodynamic couple therapy, the relationship itself becomes the client—a powerful site where past conflicts find a home. Historically, the transmutative power of psychoanalysis has been attributed to interpreting transference within the client-analyst relationship, with language as the primary medium of change. Yet, for therapists working with couples, this framework overlooks a crucial element: the unconscious, emotional dynamics that shape how partners relate, often in ways that cannot be fully articulated in words.
Times:
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm, London UK
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm, New York, USA
FREE MINI VIDEO LESSON ‘Emotion-Focused Therapy for Disconnected Couples‘ (by Kathleen Mates-Youngman) WORTH £25 AVAILABLE WITH THIS BOOKING!
Note: Once you’ve placed your order, the details for accessing this free Mini Lesson will be included in a downloadable document in your booking confirmation email
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£ 72.00

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Course Credits

Speaker(s)

Course length in hours
Location
Online streaming only
Full course information
Couples often enter therapy entrenched in deeply ingrained attachment dynamics—unconscious forces that influence how partners choose one another, relate, and even sabotage their relationships. These emotional patterns are not just spoken but enacted, often outside conscious awareness. Failing to address these dynamics can leave clients locked in repetitive, destructive cycles that threaten the very fabric of their relationships. In this intellectually stimulating and practical webinar, Dr Christopher Clulow will redefine the role of interpretation in addressing emotional undercurrents that form the bedrock of unconscious attachment patterns.
We will begin by re-examining the traditional psychoanalytic emphasis on language and transference interpretation. Dr Clulow will demonstrate how, for couples, words alone may not unlock the full depth of relational dynamics. Therapists must instead focus on the “mood music” of the relationship—the non-verbal cues, emotional undercurrents, and attachment-based fears that drive conflict and connection. Understanding these unconscious patterns involves creating conditions in which partners feel safe, providing a vital pathway for couples to co-create a new relational narrative that fosters growth, healing, and authentic connection. This training is essential for therapists who want to help their clients break free from harmful relational patterns before they lead to irreversible emotional damage.
Why This Training is Urgently Needed:
In today’s increasingly complex relational landscape, it is imperative that therapists do not remove themselves from the interpersonal influences of consulting room encounters when addressing unconscious dynamics in couples. Traditional psychoanalytic methods, which focus on unidirectional verbal interpretation exchanges, may fall short in addressing these deep-seated patterns. Without intervention, these patterns can undermine therapy, leaving couples entrenched in cycles of conflict and misunderstanding. This training seminar will provide therapists with the insights and skills needed to disrupt negative predictive patterns and guide clients toward more intentional, secure, and meaningful relationships. Whether you’re looking to deepen your theoretical understanding or enhance your clinical practice, this course provides a solid framework for therapists navigating the complexities of modern couple dynamics.
Clinical Challenges Considered:
- Redefining Interpretation Beyond Words: Traditional psychoanalysis places significant emphasis on verbal interpretation, but for couple therapists, words alone often do not capture the full complexity of relational dynamics. This seminar will explore the crucial role of interpretation in understanding and working through the emotional undercurrents that underpin unconscious attachment patterns.
- Attachment and Emotional Dynamics: Attachment theory provides a research-based framework for understanding how early life experiences shape unconscious relational patterns in adulthood. Therapists will explore how these patterns, drive both conflict and connection in couple dynamics.
- Non-Specific Factors in Therapeutic Change: Transformative change in couple therapy often depends on factors beyond specific interventions, such as the therapeutic alliance and emotional resonance. This training will delve into these non-specific factors, which are essential for shifting unconscious patterns toward conscious, intentional dynamics.
How Psychodynamic Therapy Resolves Unconscious Relational Patterns:
In psychodynamic couple therapy, the therapist’s role is to create a reflective, emotionally safe space where unconscious patterns can be uncovered and examined. By attuning themselves to intersubjective currents affecting the therapy relationship, both as a prequel and ongoing factor affecting the capacity to explore attachment histories and hidden desires, therapists can help couples reshape their emotional expectations and behaviour to co-create a loving relationship grounded in mutual growth and authentic emotional connection.
Learning Objectives:
- Emotional Significance: Discuss the critical role that emotions play in shaping unconscious relational patterns, particularly in couple dynamics.
- Redefining Interpretation: Explain how to expand the function of interpretation in enabling integrating non-verbal communication and emotional cues to access unconscious attachment dynamics.
- Uncovering Unconscious Patterns: Develop skills to promote the exploration of how attachment histories and early relational experiences can influence present-day unconscious dynamics in couples, facilitating meaningful therapeutic transformation.
© nscience 2024 / 25
What's included in this course
- Presented by world-class speaker(s)
- Handouts and video recording
- 3 hrs of professionally produced lessons
- 1 year access to video recorded version
- CPD / CE Certificate
- Join from anywhere in the world
We will begin by re-examining the traditional psychoanalytic emphasis on language and transference interpretation. Dr Clulow will demonstrate how, for couples, words alone may not unlock the full depth of relational dynamics. Therapists must instead focus on the “mood music” of the relationship—the non-verbal cues, emotional undercurrents, and attachment-based fears that drive conflict and connection. Understanding these unconscious patterns involves creating conditions in which partners feel safe, providing a vital pathway for couples to co-create a new relational narrative that fosters growth, healing, and authentic connection. This training is essential for therapists who want to help their clients break free from harmful relational patterns before they lead to irreversible emotional damage.
Learning objectives
- Emotional Significance: Discuss the critical role that emotions play in shaping unconscious relational patterns, particularly in couple dynamics.
- Redefining Interpretation: Explain how to expand the function of interpretation in enabling integrating non-verbal communication and emotional cues to access unconscious attachment dynamics.
- Uncovering Unconscious Patterns: Develop skills to promote the exploration of how attachment histories and early relational experiences can influence present-day unconscious dynamics in couples, facilitating meaningful therapeutic transformation.
You'll also be able to...
Develop the ability to interpret and modulate the body’s nervous system (sensory and autonomic) to regulate arousal levels in clients and for safer trauma therapy
Identify and acquire recovery options and strategies for trauma clients inappropriate for trauma memory processing, particularly for those who don’t want to and those who decompensate or dysregulate from memory work
Also develop the ability to interpret and modulate the body’s nervous system (sensory and autonomic) to regulate arousal levels for professional self-care

Dr Christopher Clulow is a consultant couple psychoanalytic psychotherapist, a Senior Fellow of the Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology and past Director of Tavistock Relationships, London. He has published extensively on marriage, partnerships, parenthood and couple psychotherapy, most recently from an attachment perspective. He is a Fellow of the Centre for Social Policy, Dartington, past Editor in Chief of Couple and Family Psychoanalysis, and a Series Editor for the Library of Couple and Family Psychoanalysis.
Dr. Clulow is a respected speaker, trainer, and clinical supervisor, valued for his rigorous and accessible teaching. In his clinical practice, he emphasizes relational dynamics and unconscious processes, helping therapists guide clients toward more secure and meaningful connections. He continues to be a thought leader in the field, influencing therapists and researchers through his innovative approaches to understanding and treating relationship challenges.
Program outline
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nscience UK is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. nscience UK maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
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