Reframe everything you thought you knew about addiction and unlock a powerful relational approach to transform your therapeutic work, with Sarah Pennock.
Saturday 6th February 2027.
Online CPD Training for Therapists via Zoom. Can’t make the date? Watch the recording on CATCH-UP for 28 days.Event Times: 10.00am – 4.00pm GMT (London)/ 11.00am – 5.00pm CET (Paris)/ 5.00am – 11.00am EST (New York).
Tickets: £119 or £99 (full ticketing information at the end of this listing).
*Understanding & Working with Addiction in Therapy*
Event Description:
This new one-day workshop invites a shift in how we understand addiction, not as pathology to be eliminated, but as a meaningful and often intelligent response to unmet relational need.
Drawing on Attachment Theory and relational psychotherapy, we will explore how addictive behaviours can emerge as ways of managing emotional experience when relational safety has been limited, inconsistent, or overwhelming.
Through clinical discussion and case material, we will consider how addiction functions: as emotional regulation, as protection from vulnerability, as a substitute for connection.
The day will also explore how addictive patterns become embedded within couple dynamics, and the implications this has for therapeutic work.
This workshop is designed for therapists, counsellors, and practitioners who want to work with addiction in a way that prioritises curiosity, safety, and relational depth.
By the end of the workshop, participants will:
- Develop an attachment-based understanding of addiction.
- Recognise addictive behaviours as adaptive responses to emotional and relational experience.
- Understand the links between early attachment patterns, affect regulation, and adult relational dynamics.
- Explore how addiction functions within couple relationships and relational systems.
- Reflect on the therapist’s role as a regulating, relational presence.
This workshop is suitable for experienced therapists and also for therapists-in-training and for those new to working with these issues in therapy as well as those looking for further insight.
Trainer:
Sarah Pennock is a Psychoanalytic Attachment-Based Psychotherapist specialising in addiction and relational trauma. She is an Associate Member of The Bowlby Centre, where she teaches and supervises trainee attachment-based psychotherapists. She is a contributing author for ‘Attachment, Relationships and Food’ (ed. Linda Cundy, Routledge 2021) and also works as a Resilience Coach with senior corporate executives. She runs her private practice in Marylebone, London.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION ABOUT THIS WORKSHOP
Online CPD Workshop for Counsellors & Psychotherapists: This workshop will be delivered via Zoom. Bookings close 48 hours before the start of the workshop, and joining details will be sent to all delegates on the Thursday before the workshop (between 2pm and 6pm, after bookings have closed). Please note that by booking a ticket for this workshop, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions for Zoom events, so please read through them carefully before making your purchase.
Catch-up: This workshop will be recorded. All delegates will receive instructions about accessing the recording on the Thursday AFTER the event. The recording is available to view in your own time for 28 days. Full details are included in emails sent to delegates. After this time the recording will no longer be available, so if you are planning to use the catch-up function, please ensure that you have adequate time to view the recording within this time frame.
Discounted Ticket Price – £99
Available until Sunday 10th January 2027, subject to limited availability. Pick this ticket if you are on a reduced income or a student counsellor/psychotherapist.
Standard Ticket Price – £119
Available until 11am on Thursday 4th February 2027 when bookings close. Pick this ticket if you can afford to pay this, or if all the discounted tickets have been sold.
*Please be aware there are a limited number of tickets at each price point, including where a Super Early Bird ticket price is offered*
Please note that the use of the new subscriber code is limited for each workshop and when the maximum number is reached the code will no longer work.
Ticket Payment:
Bookings must be paid for either via Paypal, Credit/debit card (via Paypal, no Paypal account required), or bank transfer. All payments via bank transfer must be made by 11am on Thursday 4th February 2027 to secure your place!
CPD Certificates:
All delegates will be supplied with a CPD Certificate. This will be available after completing a short feedback survey, the link for which will be sent out on the Thursday AFTER the workshop takes place.