Sandpoint, Idaho, July 12, 2021— Amanda Thomas, MPhEd, LAMFT, founder and owner of Integrative Approach, is launching a new training with Jim Thomas, LMFT Becoming an Attachment Therapist.  This training will be in Sandpoint, Idaho at the new Integrative Approach Yurt from Thursday, September 23, 2021, 9:00 AM to Saturday, September 25, 2021, 5 PM.  Amanda is excited to train with Jim Thomas, an internationally renowned trainer, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and an International Center of Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy Certified Trainer.  Jim, also 32 plus years sober, has extensive experience as both clinician and administrator in residential programs.  Together, Amanda and Jim have completed multiple trainings for professionals working in residential and addiction programs affording them the ability to apply attachment theory and heal relationships.  

Becoming an Attachment Therapist for Residential and Addiction Program provides 24 contact hours accredited by the National Board of Certified Counselors.  This training integrates the growing body of research on attachment-based therapies into work with addiction intervention and residential treatment settings. These issues show up at higher frequency in the most difficult cases: adolescents with depression and anxiety, the young adult in a drug treatment facility, or the adult client with complex trauma issues. The attachment science provides a common thread to understand these difficult issues in our work.  The 3-day training provides a framework of how to effectively work with negative relational patterns of trauma and adverse childhood experiences which are so prevalent in couples and families seeking residential treatment. We will explore how ‘we’ can show-up as therapists to best help clients, couples, and families and disrupt patterns to create new dynamics within relationships.  The course will be integrating the attachment lens and multiple treatment models in our work and programming to maximize benefits to our clients and families, specifically in treatment settings.

Over the 3-Day training, professionals will earn 24 contact hours of emotionally focused therapy through didactic and experiential learning to best serve the adult learning styles of the small, intimate learning community. Counselors and therapists working in residential treatment or wilderness programs for adolescents or young adults interested in being part of this training can join by registering here. 

Amanda’s commitment to professional development and systemic work has driven the growth of these trainings. “Our past clinicians have inspired us to develop a more specific training to meet their needs and we still believe we have the rare opportunity to work with families at a pivotal time in their healing.  I believe we have an ethical duty to be highly competent in working with the current science of attachment.  Healing our clients and their families interactional patterns is critical to their lives far beyond their time in residential and wilderness therapy.  Our new training is an experiential approach to therapy and invaluable to our clients’ success,” said Thomas.  

Madolyn Liebing, Ph.D. psychologist, LMFT stated, “What I really value and appreciate from Amanda and Jim’s trainings is the practical application of attachment theory and models, specifically in the treatment settings and their ability to focus on addiction and how attachment wounds run the gamut of our clients’ experiences. Learning to heal attachment wounds enables us to  facilitating long-term recovery.” 

About Integrative Approach

Integrative Approach is a premier clinical concierge company providing professional mental health and addiction consulting services via support to families, adolescents, young adults, and privately held family businesses throughout the country. Based out of Sandpoint, Idaho, and founded in 2007, Amanda L. Thomas, MPhEd, LAMFT also has a private clinical practice.

Integrative Approach has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No.7010. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Integrative Approach is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.