13th International Attachment Conference Munich "Attachment and Migration" (2014)
Tragically, many people today, are losing their relationships with their attachment figures -- and often with members of their extended family and friends as well -- as a result of migration, displacement and flight, torture, human trafficking, especially with women and children. They may also become isolated from their linguistic and cultural roots.
In their host cultures and societies, they all too often experience extreme stress, pressure to adapt, massive insecurity, isolation, and deprivation, and they are often subjected to threats, persecution, and even outright violence. These extreme existential changes shake their attachment system to the core, threatening and even destroying any basic feeling of trust they may have had in other people. Such traumatic experiences may lead to a deep sense of insecurity in terms of the capacity to attach, which is often associated with extreme anxiety and even panic. What sorts of factors are protective? What role many new attachment figures play, and how is it even possible to create new relationships under the circumstances? What do foster families, partners, employers, and societies need to know in order to help transform the trauma of migration into a new resource for development and attachment security? What kinds of therapy are most helpful for these people? Leading international experts and researchers will report on their work, give us a new perspective on this set of problems, and discuss new avenues of effective action.
Target group
This conference is aimed at physicians in all disciplines as well as psychologists, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, social workers, educators, youth workers, and all therapists and counselors involved in the diagnosis and treatment of psychosomatic disorders in infants, children, adolescents and adults. We also invite all professionals who provide care and support to psychosomatically ill patients in all age groups, such as teachers, nurses, remedial teachers, contact supervisors, occupational therapists, physical therapists, pastors, jurists, politicians, and adoptive or fosterparents.
Conference folder 2014: Download