2026 ATNS Conference

Workshop Summary:

---

I propose a new lens for understanding how neuroplastic symptoms are generated, perpetuated, and resolved. Because we require connection for survival from birth, the most salient source of danger is the lack of emotional safety within attachment relationships. Building on the definition of shame as “the fear of disconnection,” I argue that it is this specific relational fear that most often triggers the brain’s alarm mechanism. Repeated experiences of insufficient emotional attunement in early relationships prime neural networks toward sympathetic activation and habitual self-devaluation. This establishes sensitization to disconnection threat (i.e., shame) early in development and the compensatory, shame-avoidance strategies that promote neuroplastic symptoms in adulthood.

Learning Objectives:

---

1. Define shame and explain its role as a core driver of neuroplastic symptoms and treatmentresistance.
2. Identify manifestations of shame and shame-avoidance in their own internal experience and in their patients.
3. Describe how shame-based neural networks are formed in early attachment relationships and maintained in adulthood.
4. Apply high-quality self-empathy and PRT-informed principles to the process of training out of persistent shame patterns. 
5. Recognize and effectively address shame dynamics within the clinical relationship.