On 1 February 2022 Éadaoin Bhreathnach and Nick Smith will present a case study using the Sensory Attachment Intervention (SAI) model which incorporates the Dynamic Maturational Model of Attachment and Adaptation (DMM). Éadaoin and Nick are occupational therapists who will describe how somatic experiences and memory systems are impacted by attachment trauma. Nick will present video footage as part of the case study and his application of the SAI Just Right State Programme. It is a six week programme in which the child learns about the regulating properties of food and play and how to enable affect regulation. 

The purpose of this session/workshop is to discuss the difference between implicit strategic attachment behaviour and reflexive survival responses that are activated by trauma memories and sensory processing difficulties. The case study will be used as a basis for discussion and to illustrate SAI analysis and Intervention. Some of the assessments used in this case study include CAPA,  D-EIS Dyadic Parent Child MIM, Ayres Clinical Observations.

Éadaoin will also introduce her SAI model on Transformation of Information which is an adaptation of Dr. Patricia Crittenden’s Memory Systems Model. The SAI model describes modulation (threshold and arousal) of all sensory systems (including Interoception/Crittenden’s Organic States, Verbalised States) as being the source of imaged memory. She also adds adaptive behaviour after Reflective Integration, as the proof of real change is actually changing behavioural responses when engaging with the physical environment and with others.

Éadaoin presented her SAI model at the 2018 conference for the International Association for the Study of Attachment (IASA). Here is a link to the comprehensive SAI paper she provided for her presentation.

Please join us for this special session.

Session details

Date: Tuesday, 1 February 2022 (live, partially recorded)
Length: 90+ minutes
Price: Free
Host/Facilitator: Éadaoin Bhreathnach and Nick Smith
Platform: Zoom meeting
Session for: Any professional interested in DMM attachment theory and science. Invite your colleagues.
Sponsor: Conflict Science Institute
Contact: Conflict Science Institute for Zoom link invitation
Session times:(US/EU/Africa/India): Tuesday, 9:00 a.m. Seattle (UTC -7) (11:00 a.m. in Dallas; noon in Miami; 5:00 p.m. in London; 7:00 p.m. in Cape Town; 9:00 p.m. in New Delhi; midnight in Bangkok. For Sydney Australia, the session is at 4:00 a.m. on Wednesday.) 

Éadaoin Bhreathnach

Éadaoin is an Occupational Therapist & Attachment Counsellor and visiting Lecturer at the University of Roehampton M.Sc. Attachment Studies Course. She is based in Northern Ireland. Éadaoin is involved in collaborative research with academics and clinically based Occupational Therapists, exploring the impact of Developmental Trauma on sensory processing, attachment patterns, and stress patterns.

Éadaoin has worked for over forty years on the impact of attachment trauma and sensory processing leading to the development of her model Sensory Attachment Intervention. She is the author of The Scared Gang series that helps children to recognise their own survival and attachment patterns through The Scared Gang characters. These books are widely used as a therapeutic tool by professionals working in the field of Attachment Trauma. Her latest publication The Scared Gang Are Asked to Tell is a resource pack to enable narrative work and emotional regulation.

Nick Smith

Nick Smith is a Sensory Attachment Intervention trainer.