The Neurobiology of Attachment and Personality

CPD

Handouts

Faculty

Daniel J. Siegel, MD Related seminars and products

Mind Your Brain, Inc.

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Dr. Dan Siegel is the founder and director of education of the Mindsight Institute and founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA, where he was also co-principal investigator of the Center for Culture, Brain and Development and clinical professor of psychiatry at The School of Medicine.

An award-winning educator, Dan is the author of five New York Times bestsellers and over fifteen other books which have been translated into over forty languages. As the founding editor of the Norton Professional Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology (“IPNB”), Dan has overseen the publication of over one hundred books in the transdisciplinary IPNB frame which focuses on the mind and mental health.

A graduate of Harvard Medical School, Dan completed his postgraduate training at UCLA specializing in pediatrics, and adult, adolescent, and child psychiatry. He was trained in attachment research and narrative analysis through a National Institute of Mental Health research training fellowship focusing on how relationships shape our autobiographical ways of making sense of our lives and influence our development across the lifespan.

Speaker Disclosures
Financial: Dr. Dan Siegel serves as the Medical Director at the Lifespan Learning Institute and is the Co-Founder and Director of Education at the Mindsight Institute. He is also the founding editor of the Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology. Dr. Siegel receives royalties as a published author and serves as a scientific advisor for the Inner Development Goals initiative and as an advisor for the Center for Child Well-Being. Additionally, he receives honoraria and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. Dr. Siegel has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Dan Siegel is an honorary member of the Austrian Federal Association for Mindfulness. He also serves on the Board of the Garrison Institute and as an advisory board member for both Gloo and Convergence.

Additional Info

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Objectives

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Summarize the neurobiological foundations of attachment and how these processes influence personality development across the lifespan.
2. Choose integrative strategies grounded in interpersonal neurobiology (IPNB) to support secure attachment, relational healing, and growth in clinical practice.
3. Identify risks and limitations associated with current research and clinical applications of attachment- and personality-informed interventions.

Outline

The Neurobiology of Attachment

• How early relationships shape the developing brain and influence attachment patterns
• The role of implicit memory, stress reactivity, and right-brain-to-right brain

communication

Clinical Takeaways:

Recognize how early relational experiences contribute to current functioning

Use attachment-informed assessment strategies to guide treatment

Personality as Patterns of Developmental Pathways

• Personality as recurring patterns of emotion, thought, and behavior
• New research on neuroplasticity and integrative growth
• Introduction to Siegel’s PDP framework as an update to personality science
• Clinical Takeaways:
  • Use PDP lens to identify clients’ adaptive and maladaptive patterns
  • Introduce reflective practices that move from rigidity/chaos to integration

Pathways to Healing and Connection

• Practical strategies for fostering secure attachment in therapy
• How therapeutic presence activates integration and resilience
• Cultivating relational repair through attunement, resonance, and MWe (interpersonal connectedness)
• Clinical Takeaways:
  • Apply mindfulness and presence-based practices in sessions
  • Use “narrative integration” techniques to help clients make sense of attachment-based wounds

Risks and Limitations of Research and Clinical Applications

• Variability in research designs and generalizability of attachment studies
• Cultural considerations in applying attachment and personality frameworks
• Ethical cautions: avoid over-pathologizing personally patterns; stay aware of research limitations
• Clinical Takeaways:
  • Apply with cultural humility and avoid reductionist labeling
  • Stay updated with evolving research and evidence-based practice guidelines

Q&A

Target Audience

• Counsellors
• Social Workers
• Marriage & Family Therapists
• Physicians
• Psychologists
• Other Mental Health Professionals