Live CE Webinar Open for Registration

Course Description

This course explores the relationships among attachment and trauma, and approaches trauma as a developmental crucible, including the developmental impact of early trauma.  A primary focus will be current neurobiological models of trauma and its progressive effects across the lifespan. Special topics will include splitting, dissociation, and introjection as well as psychodynamic outcomes of trauma. 

Curricular Notes

Biological grounding and developmental realism

AION 204 consolidates the developmental and relational insights of AION 201–203 by grounding them in neurobiological process, preparing participants for advanced work with trauma, dissociation, and personality integration. It marks the point in the curriculum where psychodynamic formulation and neuroscience are explicitly braided, without collapsing one into the other. By addressing splitting, dissociation, and introjection as adaptive survival strategies with neurobiological correlates, the course prevents both biological reductionism and purely symbolic abstraction. This course grounds psychodynamic thinking in embodied developmental process, preparing clinicians for advanced work with trauma, dissociation, and personality integration.

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CE Value

This event spans 6 clock hours and awards 6 hours of Continuing Education.

Fees

$420 for CE credit
$380 for non CE / auditing
$320 for pre-licensed students

course status

This course is a live webinar. It contributes to the Advanced Foundations in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Certificate.

faculty

Elizabeth Schwandt PsyD

Prerequisites

AION 201 and 202

Discord Link

If you’re curious about this course, or enrolled in it, please join our Discord Channel dedicated to it.

Event
details

Upon completion of this seminar, participants will be able to:
  1. Describe how early attachment experiences and temperament contribute to the formation of primitive mental states, and explain how these states scaffold distinct anxiety patterns across developmental stages.
  2. Analyze the relationship between anxiety regulation, attachment style, and character structure, enabling clinicians to differentiate developmentally normative anxiety from anxiety rooted in primitive or unintegrated mental organization.
  3. Differentiate object relations, self psychological, and Jungian perspectives on anxiety and attachment, and integrate these models to formulate how early relational failures shape adult personality organization and defensive style.
  4. Apply an attachment-informed, depth-psychological formulation to clinical material in order to identify dominant anxiety states, anticipate transference–countertransference dynamics, and tailor therapeutic stance and pacing for patients with varying levels of psychological integration.

Bion, W. R. (1962). Learning from experience. Heinemann.

Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base: Parent-child attachment and healthy human development. Basic Books.

Fonagy, P., Gergely, G., Jurist, E., & Target, M. (2002). Affect regulation, mentalization, and the development of the self. Other Press.

Grotstein, J. S. (1981). Splitting and projective identification. Jason Aronson.

Hurvich, M. (2003). The place of annihilation anxieties in psychoanalytic theory. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 51: 579–616

Kohut, H. (1977). The restoration of the self. International Universities Press.

Winnicott, D. W. (1965). The maturational processes and the facilitating environment. International Universities Press.

Jung, C.G. (1969). The structure and dynamics of the psyche (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.; Vol. 8). Princeton University Press.

Aion Institute courses are open to all licensed mental health professionals, residents, interns, and graduate students in training, as well as members of the lay public who have an interest in psychodynamic psychology. Please use the following descriptions of our instructional level to gauge your own comfort level with the content.

Introductory Level For those beginning the path or seeking reorientation. Courses at this level provide foundational knowledge in psychodynamic and integrative frameworks. No prior specialization is required—only a readiness to engage with depth-oriented psychological thought. These classes introduce core concepts, language, and philosophical underpinnings essential to the Aion curriculum.
Intermediate Level For those building structure upon the foundation. Intermediate courses deepen theoretical understanding and clinical application. Participants are expected to have prior exposure to psychoanalytic or Jungian concepts. These courses explore the evolution of major schools of thought, integrative approaches, and the emergence of relational and neurobiological paradigms, inviting greater complexity and case-based reflection.
Advanced Level For those prepared to engage with nuance, synthesis, and transformation. Advanced courses assume substantial familiarity with depth psychological theory and practice. Here, we move toward integrative models, complex case formulation, and contemporary theoretical frontiers. The focus is on synthesis, symbolic analysis, and the practitioner’s evolving stance as both healer and theoretician.
Hard Mode For those willing to be changed. Hard Mode courses are not merely advanced—they are initiatory. Designed for highly motivated participants, these offerings require deep reading, active participation, and a willingness to engage psychologically, imaginatively, and ethically. They are immersive, demanding, and transformational. These courses may involve longer sessions, seminar-style discussion, original writing or creative response, and the expectation that participants contribute to a shared field of inquiry. They are suited for those who seek to embody the work, not merely study it.

The Aion Institute reserves the right to cancel or re-schedule any event, for which registrants will receive a full refund or credit. Refunds for payment processed online via electronic means will be refunded back to the credit card within 2 weeks after the cancellation.

Participants who wish to cancel their registration and paid registration fees online may be eligible for refund.

Participants may cancel their registration through the self-serve page accessed via the link included in the confirmation email sent after registration.

Please keep in mind that canceling a registration on the self-serve page does not automatically process a refund. Aion will refund cancellations made at least 24 hours prior to the start of this event.

The Aion Institute is committed to providing an inclusive and accessible learning environment for all participants.

This event is conducted online using a virtual meeting platform (Zoom). We encourage all attendees to ensure that their technological setup—audio, video, internet connection, and device settings—meets their individual accessibility needs prior to the event.

If you require any additional support, accommodations, or accessibility considerations in order to participate fully, please don’t hesitate to contact us through one of the contact forms on this website. We will make every reasonable effort to ensure your learning experience is welcoming, respectful, and attuned to your needs.

 

There is no commercial support for this Aion Institute program, nor are there any relationships between the CE Sponsor, presenting organization, presenter, program content, research, grants, or other funding that could reasonably be construed as conflicts of interest.

Continuing Education (CE) Provider Approvals

The Aion Institute is approved by the California Psychological Association to provide continuing professional education for psychologists. The Aion Institute (AIO279) maintains responsibility for this program and its content.