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April 2025

  • therapy
  • Apr 7
  • 3 min read

Updated: Jun 9




Kia ora Friends and Colleagues,


I hope this newsletter finds you well in this changing season.


I have just completed a 2 part webinar for the NZ Psychological Society on Understanding Trauma through an Attachment lens. One of the most uplifting quotes that keeps me going in this work is Peter Levine’s:


I have seen over and over again the power of transformation in my client’s brave journeys of healing. As Easter is approaching, the theme of resurrection is very apt.


We find ourselves rolling into autumn, with the nights getting cooler and the dark settling in sooner (as least here in downunder Aotearoa land). To give you some glimmer to hold on to as you enter this darkening season, here is a wonderful quote, that has often brought solace to me when I walk through dark patches of life. It harkens to the invisible growth under the soil during the fallow season of winter:



On that note, that segues to my next Professional Development webinar focusing on working with clients struggling with depression. It was going to be this month but sadly had to be postponed …. so I figured why not offer you a special 1/2 price deal on my online course for the month of April! No, it’s not an April Fool’s joke, it’s a real deal: you get access to a 6-hour video course worth $150 for ½ price for the month of April!


http://Attachment-based Counselling (ABC) Level 2 – Working with Depression – Ruth McConnell


Events coming up in June:


We certainly live in alarming times and our tamariki and rangatahi are showing signs of increased anxiety and distress. To bring our young one’s alarm levels down it is necessary for them to feel safe, not just physically but psychologically. Gabor Mate expresses this succinctly: ‘safety is not the absence of threat but the presence of connection’. In this webinar Neufeld’s Attachment-based developmental is the frame we use to examine the underlying dynamics behind alarm/anxiety, how alarm impacts the body, the mind and relationships, and how to bring tamariki/rangatahi to psychological, physical and emotional rest.


Dates of the webinar:

Monday, 9 June 2025

9am – 12.30pm – Online via Zoom

To book click here:



Navigating Mental Health and Behaviour Challenges

Insight and Hope for Tamariki and Rangatahi

As a Professional Associatiate of the Neufeld Institute I am excited to let you know about the Neufeld Aotearoa Conference.


When our tamariki and rangatahi struggle with mental health challenges, traditional approaches often miss a crucial truth: healing and growth are rooted in our fundamental human need for secure attachment.


Just as navigating any journey requires clear landmarks, supporting our young people through mental health challenges demands reliable guideposts along the way. This conference aims to inspire both parents and professionals by illuminating key landmarks that may be missing or overlooked. Through the lens of developmental science and evidence-based theory, we’ll explore natural solutions that foster connection and build resilience.


This isn’t just another mental health conference – it’s a paradigm shift in how we understand and support young people’s journey to wellbeing, grounded in the science of human connection.


KEYNOTE B: Dr Gordon Neufeld June 6th 2025 from 2:45-4:00

The Current Crisis of Wellbeing: What is happening to our kids?

Auckland venue or *Livestream Option available


Dates:

Christchurch June 4th, 2025

Auckland June 6th, 2025


Now more than ever, we are seeing that human connection is vital for our thriving not just as individuals but also as a species. Recently developments in the field of neuroscience and developmental psychology have confirmed that we are all creatures of attachment. Attachment theory helps us understand that human flourishing happens best when secure attachment is present. However, many of our clients are not thriving and may even seem developmentally stuck, due to unresolved attachment injuries or entrenched relational patterns that keep them from connecting deeply and growing in resilience. Instead of asking what is wrong with our clients, we can ask, what happened to them and equally importantly, who was there for them? This re-framing comes from a trauma-informed, strengths-based perspective, outlining how healthy attachment develops across the lifespan, what happens when insecure attachment forms, and what clients may need to gain ‘earned’ secure attachment to start to flourish again.


Webinar date: July 21st, 2025


Here is the link if you want to attend the webinar – purchase tickets click through Grow: https://www.grow.co.nz/applying-attachment-theory-to-clinical-practice/


But for those of you are interested in this material (with a different name) and want to access it as a self-paced course, you can purchase the same material in my online shop



I end this letter with a blessing from John O’Donohue, one of my favourite Celtic poets, for your inspiration:



Go gently Kia pai tō rā (Have a nice day)


Ruth

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