Attachment & Sex: Through the Lens of Imago Relationship Therapy (4 CE Hours)

Description

This post-graduate level course offers licensed mental health clinicians a clinically grounded, relational framework for understanding sexual desire, intimacy struggles, and erotic conflict through the lens of Imago Relationship Therapy, attachment theory, and developmental psychology.

Participants will explore how sexual challenges in committed relationships often reflect unmet attachment and developmental needs rather than pathology or dysfunction. Drawing on Imago theory, attachment research, and contemporary sex therapy perspectives, this course reframes sexual conflict as “growth trying to happen” and highlights how erotic struggles frequently mirror early relational injuries around safety, autonomy, identity, and competence.

Through didactic teaching, clinical examples, and case studies, clinicians will learn how the Imago Intentional Dialogue operationalizes attachment repair, emotional safety, differentiation, and co-regulation—creating the conditions necessary for erotic vitality and sustainable sexual connection. Special attention is given to how developmental wounds shape adult sexual strategies such as pursuit or withdrawal.

This course also integrates contemporary sex therapy concepts including pleasure-centered intimacy, responsive desire, erotic templates, and the safety–novelty paradox, demonstrating how Imago Dialogue can be used to facilitate nuanced sexual conversations without blame, pressure, or performance demands.

The training is offered with clinical humility, acknowledging that much of the foundational research emerged from work with monogamous, heterosexual couples, while inviting clinicians to thoughtfully adapt these tools across diverse identities, relationship structures, and cultural contexts.

This course is designed for licensed clinicians pursuing sex therapy certification and is appropriate for those seeking integrative, attachment-informed, and relationally focused clinical tools for working with couples and sexual concerns.

Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Explain how attachment theory, developmental relational needs, and Imago Relationship Therapy conceptualize sexual and relational challenges as expressions of unmet early needs.
2. Describe how Imago Intentional Dialogue operationalizes attachment repair, supports differentiation and connection, and creates the relational safety necessary for erotic vitality.
3. Identify common attachment, exploration, identity, and competence wounds and recognize how adaptive sexual strategies develop in response to these unmet needs.
4. Apply Imago Dialogue interventions to support healing, differentiation, and erotic growth in clinical work with couples experiencing sexual and intimacy concerns.

Activity Schedule

Speaker Bios

Emily Lambert Robins is a licensed clinical social worker who runs a private practice based out of NYC.  Emily sees clients virtually all over NY state, NJ and CT.  Emily holds a BA in International Relations from American University, a JD from Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law, and a Masters of Social Work from New York University and has been practicing as a therapist for over 10 years.   Emily is an Advanced Certified Imago Relationship Therapist, a Certified Imago workshop presenter and an AASECT certified sex therapist.  Emily is passionate about relationships and helping people work through conflict, develop deeper and empathic connection with others and themselves, and live a life with joyful aliveness.  You can learn more about Emily and contact her at: www.emilylambertrobins.com

Trish Sanders, LCSW, is a Certified Imago Advanced Relationship Therapist and Relationship Coach who integrates attachment theory and nervous system–informed approaches to help couples and individuals reconnect, communicate more effectively, and rebuild relational safety. Trish earned her MSW from New York University in 2005 and began her career as a Play Therapist, working with children, adolescents, and families through creative modalities, including art and sand. For more than a decade, she has specialized in working with romantic partners, helping them cultivate intimacy and connection through compassionate, conscious communication. 

She offers both virtual and in-person therapy and coaching services based in Paramus, New Jersey, and facilitates multiple Imago workshops, including Getting the Love You Want and Satisfying Sex for Committed Couples. Trish is deeply committed to equity and inclusion and serves on the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Circle for Imago Relationships North America. Trish is also the host of When Depression Is in Your Bed, a podcast that blends neuroscience, lived experience, and compassionate storytelling to support individuals and partners navigating disconnection and healing. She brings these same professional values into her personal life, continuing to learn and grow alongside her husband and their two children. Trish welcomes opportunities to connect on Instagram or LinkedIn.

Class originally recorded: 1/12/2026.

Social workers completing this course receive 4 general continuing education credits.