Explore how our attachment style dictates who and how we love, how attachments are formed and much more. Followed by Q+A.
We’ve been taught that as long as two people really love each other, things will work out - the important part is finding love, the rest will fall into place. Over and over again movies, songs and stories remind us of the importance of finding true love for our own happily ever after.
But is love only about finding the right person? And is the only ingredient required for successful relationship true love? If that’s the case, then why are divorce rates ever growing? Did those marriages never truly have love or is there something more to this story than we realise?
In reality, building long-term love and success in a relationship requires more than just finding the right partner. Too much of our culture focuses on the pursuit of love without considering its substance, but falling in love and sustaining it are two different things and confusing the two can lead to heartache. Whether you are single or in a relationship, you will need the right knowledge and skills to sustain a loving relationship in the long-run. In this talk we will focus on understanding romantic love, why we need it, what’s its purpose and how to make it last in your relationship over the long-term.
Dr Zara Brodie is a psychologist whose expertise span across both forensic and developmental psychology. Based in Clinical & Health Psychology at the University of Edinburgh, her research focuses predominantly on the impact of childhood adversity on interpersonal functioning in adulthood. In particular, her work explores the role of attachment security in our capacity to adaptively regulate emotions, and propensity to engage in what might be considered “maladaptive” behaviours (particularly violence and aggression).
She has collaborated with Police Scotland to explore police understanding of trauma and its impact on behaviour, and has most recently worked with several UK domestic abuse charities to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the nature and severity of domestic abuse in the UK.