Neufeld Intensive One

The Neufeld Intensive One provides a grounding in the conceptual foundations of Neufeld’s attachment-based developmental approach. It is the prerequisite for the Level Two Intensive, which in turn, is the portal to further study and training. This course is taught annually onsite as a week intensive in Vancouver by Dr. Neufeld. Please consult the Events section for scheduled courses. Most students take this course through our distance education program. This course is also taught in French, German, Spanish and Hebrew.

about the model

The model is the result of years of synthesis and distillation and is rooted in depth psychology, grounded in the developmental paradigm, saturated in attachment theory and congruent with current neurological research. It has also been honed by forty years of professional practice, parenting and personal reflection. The model has been used effectively in a wide variety of venues and settings: parenting, classroom, special behaviour programs, alternate education settings, therapy, correctional settings, aboriginal communities, adoption, counseling, and the foster system.

about Neufeld’s attachment-based developmental approach

The approach is distinctly developmental and thus in contrast to the current cognitive behavioural fare as well as to the medical disorder approach. Many find it a refreshing alternative to today’s smorgasbord approach to treatment and to the presentation of strategies divorced from their philosophical moorings. The developmental approach is usually somewhat inaccessible because of the esoteric terminology, confusing constructs and fragmented theorizing that tends to characterize it. Developmentalists do not generally have a reputation for being able to make themselves easily understood; Dr. Neufeld is a notable exception in this regard.

applicability and suitability

The week intensives are attended by a wide variety of professionals as well as parents who are seeking a university level educational experience. No previous background or formal education in the social sciences is required. Although the focus is primarily on children and those responsible for them, the intensives have also been found useful by adult therapists and marriage counsellors. Previous participants have included educators of all kinds, parents and grandparents, behaviour specialists, counsellors, therapists, art therapists, psychologists, university professors, psychiatrists, family physicians, nurses, social workers, youth workers, ministers, care providers and foster parents. These week intensives are especially recommended for anyone involved or wishing to become involved in parent consulting or parent coaching.

organizing constructs

The material is organized around the constructs of maturation and stuckness that are implicit to the developmental model. Dr. Neufeld’s unique and comprehensive analysis of the three separate maturational processes render psychological immaturity much more than just an intuitive insight. In fact, the construct of stuckness becomes a powerful explanatory principle for a plethora of presenting problems and puzzling behaviour. When the participants are primarily classroom teachers, a second construct of teachability is used to weave the material together.

key themes

The Neufeld Intensive One builds upon three conceptual keys that are pivotal to making sense of children: attachment, vulnerability and maturation. Dr. Neufeld weaves these factors together into a three-dimensional map that can be used to locate children developmentally as well as discover how to get them moving in the right direction. His analysis of these three developmental factors are unique in the field and the integration of these three factors into a coherent working model is a first in the psychological literature.

primary objective

The main objective is to make sense of the children in our care. Intervention must be based on insight if it is to transform children from inside out and be long lasting in its effects. The aim is do to more than simply modify behaviour but rather to unlock the processes of inner change. By removing the impediments to the innate maturational processes, we can lift the ceiling on functioning and move closer to realizing the child’s developmental potential, whatever that may be. Some problems cannot be fixed but the stuckness surrounding the problem can still be addressed. The goal of this course is to equip the participants with the conceptual tools to make sense of kids and to provide the instruments of intervention that will bring lasting change.

topics covered

  • the role of attachment in personality and behaviour
  • the developmental paralysis that underlies a multitude of symptoms and problems in both children and adults
  • the condition of being defended against vulnerability and the impact on functioning and behaviour
  • stuckness as the most common problem of childhood
  • a three-pronged approach to effect deep and lasting change
  • the foundations of an attachment approach
  • the problem with using consequences and sanctions with stuck kids
  • the role of emotion in personality and behaviour
  • ways to soften defenses against vulnerability
  • three core interventions that prime the maturing processes
  • how to grow into effectiveness as a therapist
  • developmentally friendly strategies for dealing with problems that result from stuckness
  • the problems with, and alternatives to, separation-based discipline

course outline

Part I - The Maturation Factor: why the immature have trouble learning and behaving
A look at the three natural processes by which children grow up and the deficiencies and dysfunction that result from developmental arrest.

Part II - The Vulnerability Factor: why some kids get stuck
An analysis of the roots of stuckness that includes an appreciation of the role of emotion in maturation and an understanding of what can go wrong. This also includes a summary of the basic ways a brain defends against a child from being overwhelmed by vulnerability.

Part III - The Attachment Factor: why the immature need to attach to those responsible for them
An introduction to the most powerful of all human drives, often stunted and distorted by the flight from vulnerability. This discussion will include a survey of the kinds of attachment problems that predominate when children are stuck emotionally and developmentally.

Part IV - Working with Stuck Kids: a three pronged approach
Although the immediate challenge is to work around stuckness and its problems, the ultimate challenge is to get kids unstuck and to prime the natural processes by which the child will mature.