Course | Play & Attachment

Price

Original price: CA$150

Description

It is in our nature both to play and to attach. These two primordial drives were meant to go hand in hand, dancing us — and especially our children — towards becoming all we were meant to be. With the loss of supportive culture, we now need to become more conscious of how to come alongside Nature as it continues its quiet but vital work of giving birth to human potential.

As is the case with all Neufeld Institute's courses, this course features lectures by Dr. Neufeld, carefully curated support for enriched study, study aides, the opportunity to ask questions of trained faculty or course facilitators, a year's access to the campus to enable study at one's own pace, and a certificate of attendance upon completion. For more information, consult the "about our courses" on Neufeld Institute's page.

Sessions: 6
Lecture: 6h 31m
Certificate: 12+ hours

Course Summary

There could not be two more important human drives than attachment and play. Our preeminent need is for togetherness, in all its variations and permutations. And play is the medium through which Nature is most able to take care of us, including supporting our growth and healing our attachment wounds. It should not be surprising then that attachment and play have a complex and intriguing relationship. When distilled to the essence, we could say that attachment is meant to support play and play is meant to support attachment. One of the greatest indicators of well-being is the playfulness that comes in the wake of togetherness that feels safe. And the most important play of all is the kind of play that serves attachment, whether it is priming attachment, practicing attachment, or preserving attachment. No relationship should be without the support that play provides, including marriage. And no family should be without a culture of attachment-serving play. The younger the child, the higher the potential, the greater the challenges a child faces, the more play will need to be called upon to work its "magic." Although play and attachment are meant to go hand in hand, play may need our help in a world that is still largely blind to its profound purpose. Knowing how play works can help parents, teachers, and professionals matchmake children to the play they need.

Neufeld Institute believes this course to be so important and timely that they removed its previous prerequisites to make it more accessible, instead providing a written Neufeld Play Primer that can be read beforehand to set the stage for this course.

Suitability/Applicability

The content of this course is universally applicable, as the instinct to play is inherent to our nature and absolutely integral to becoming fully human and humane. We all need to play, and when running into attachment difficulties or trouble, even more so. As with all Neufeld Institute courses, the general thrust is to make sense of children, but in this case, Dr. Neufeld also unravels why adults need to play as well as take the lead in play. This course is intended for parents, educators, and helping professionals, as well as adults who are interested in how play can serve them and their relationships as well.

Sample Topics

• What conditions of attachment are required to support true play
• How to playfully collect to prime attachment
• How play helps unfold the stages of attachment
• The role of play in sowing the earliest seeds of natural democracy
• How to create one's own customized culture of play
• How play serves as a greenhouse for all new growth
• How play reduces the wear and tear on relationships
• How caring play is the natural birthplace of parenting
• How bullying can be addressed and even prevented through play
• How play is the natural solution to the resistant child
• How shyness can be addressed through play
• Why teachers need to be more playful

Course Outline

The course is structured into six sessions, with each session including approximately one hour of instructional video from Dr. Neufeld. Instead of requiring the prerequisite courses Neufeld Institute did previously, a written Neufeld Play Primer is provided with this course that sets the stage for optimal learning.

• Session 1 — How attachment serves play
The course begins with an exploration of how attachment serves play, including a special section on the conditions that give rise to emergent play where the seeds of individuality are sprouted.

• Session 2 — How play serves attachment
Play serves attachment in at least six different ways, including priming attachments as well as protecting relationships against the wear and tear of impulsive emotional expression and even defensive detachment. Play is the ultimate primer for human relationships and should be employed right from the beginning with our children.

• Session 3 — Play and the six ways of attaching
In this session, you'll follow play through the six stages of attachment, discovering how each stage first appears and is practiced in the play mode.

• Session 4 — Play and the Hierarchical Attachment Instincts: alpha and dependence
The hierarchical nature of attachment creates many difficulties in societies where dependence is often resisted, alpha is inappropriate, and a passion for equality eclipses hierarchical realities. Play comes to the rescue here, even giving birth to a "caring alphahood" dynamic that can inform future parenting.

• Session 5 — Play and the Protective Instincts: counterwill and shyness
The attachment instincts of counterwill and shyness tend to be problematic in our society. Play provides a way through for both of these instincts, providing a validity to the natural impulses yet protecting against the negative repercussions in relationships.

• Session 6 — Creating a Culture of attachment-serving play
The primary purpose of traditional culture was to protect the kind of play that served attachment. In the absence of such a culture, we now need to take matters into our own hands, creating a culture of attachment-serving play to both create and preserve the relationships our children need.