Product Description

Presenter: Lisa Firestone, Ph.D.
90 Minutes

• Understand how relationships can trigger feelings of anxiety: insecurity, fear, rejection,  abandonment, or of being overwhelmed diminished consumed
• Explore the root causes of relationship anxiety
• Explain the concept of attachment theory and how it affects anxiety about relationships
• Understand how our “critical inner voice” perpetuates anxiety and insecurity
• Discuss valuable tools to help people cope with anxiety in their relationships

While the idea of falling in love can sound blissful, relationships almost always challenge us in ways we don’t expect. Anxiety can arise at various points in a relationship from the moment we first start dating to when we decide to make a symbolic commitment, like moving in together or getting married. In large part, this anxiety has to do with our past. Circumstances and dynamics in our closest relationships often trigger old feelings such as insecurity, fear, rejection, or abandonment, or in contrast fears of being overwhelmed depended on  of or diminished. They challenge long-held, negative ideas we have about ourselves and threaten defenses that made us feel safe early in our lives but actually hurt or limit our current relationships.

In this Webinar, Dr. Lisa Firestone will shed light on why we experience relationship anxiety. Where do our fears come from? She will introduce the concept of attachment theory and explain how our early attachment patterns can shape our feelings and actions in our adult relationships. She will further explain the influence of the “critical inner voice,” a negative thought process we internalize based on hurtful attitudes and experiences. This critical inner voice goes on to perpetuate our anxiety by filling our heads with critical, shaming thoughts about ourselves and our partner or potential partners.

Dr. Firestone will introduce methods that can help individuals overcome their relationship anxiety by making connections to their past, creating a coherent narrative, and identifying and challenging this destructive inner voice. She will explain how practicing mindfulness and self-compassion are valuable tools to help people cope with the anxiety that comes with change. The Webinar will reveal how, when armed with these introspective tools, individuals can create more secure attachments and enjoy closer, more fulfilling, and more loving relationships.

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify clients’ negative thought patterns/ attitudes that influence relationship anxiety
2. Discuss a cognitive/affective/behavioral approach for challenging critical inner voices
3. Describe strategies to help clients tolerate anxiety associated in making changes
4. Help clients identify their early attachment style.
5. Recognize how early adaptation patterns shape a client’s attachment style and adult relationships.