2-Day Agenda: Working with Disorganized Attachment | Karen Pando-Mars, MFT

Friday, November 14, 2025
12:00 pm EST – 4:30 pm EST

12:00 – 12:30
Course Overview and Orientation

12:30 – 2:15
II: How disorganization manifests
a. How the category of disorganization came to be
b. Markers of childhood disorganization: Main and Solomon
c. Fright without Solution: Main and Hesse
d. Caregiver-infant face to face communications: Beebe
e. Attachment without Solution: Fosha
f. Attachment trauma
g. Video Illustration and large group discussion

2:15 – 2:45
III: Break

2:45 – 4:15
IV: Working with disorganization in psychotherapy
a. The unresolved state of mind: language and communication
b. The collapse in strategy; dissociation, fragmentation, pathogenic affects
c. Video Illustration: The look of fear
d. The strategy of collapse: control, threat
e. Role reversal
f. Illustration: Transcript of clinical vignette
g. Tending fear and the parentified child and their underlying fear

4:15 – 4:30
V: Large group discussion: Q & A

---

Sunday, November 16, 2025
12:00 pm EST – 4:30 pm EST

12:00 – 12:30
Reflections from Day 1 and Q & A

12:30 – 2:15
II: The therapist’s experience with disorganization
a. Therapist common reactivities and metaskills
b. Building safety; fostering epistemic trust
c. Video illustration: tracking dissociation as a defense
d. Large group discussion
e. Triangle of Connectivity: K. Gleiser
f. Video Illustration: Transforming Self-hate
g. Discussion in dyads

2:15 – 2:45
III: Break

2:45 – 4:15
IV: The Journey to Coherence and Connection
a. Therapist as organizer of experience
b. Building internal secure attachment
c. Differentiating sub-parts of self
d. Repair and collaboration between parts of self
e. Video Illustration
f. Clinical interventions to use with disorganization

4:15 – 4:30
V: Large group discussion: Q & A