The Courage of Connecting Authority & Non Violence Resistance: How to Attach and Resist

How can you avoid giving up and giving in? How can you persevere in difficult situations? Many situations in families, schools, organizations, in fact throughout the world, ask for courage, determination, connection and solidarity.

Amy Howell had the opportunity to go to Amsterdam and present a workshop on the topic: Approaches to Supporting Complex Families through ReAttach and NVR.

Amy Howell

"I have been a proud member of the Anderida team since 2014, where I’ve developed a deep passion for working therapeutically with young people and within dynamic teams. My professional journey is rooted in a strong interest in understanding people and fostering growth in both individuals and systems.

With a BSC in Psychology, accreditation in Nonviolent Resistance (NVR), and training as a Reattach Practitioner, I am continually expanding my therapeutic expertise. Currently, I am pursuing my journey to become a systemic family therapist, reflecting my dedication to providing holistic, evidence-based care.

Over the past eight years as part of the management team, I have been committed to ensuring our young people receive the love, care, and support they deserve. I am passionate about amplifying their voices, advocating for their growth, and empowering them to learn and thrive."

The Workshop:

The workshop offered a structured introduction to the use of ReAttach therapy alongside Non-Violent Resistance (NVR) when working with families experiencing severe behavioural challenges. Workshop focused on cases of supporting complex family dynamics marked by destructive and violent behaviours, across family homes and residential childcare settings.

Led by specialist practitioner Amy Howell, the session provided practical insights for those who work closely with children, adolescents, and families navigating challenging circumstances.

Participants explored case studies from Amy’s work in therapeutic care, which include situations where families and carers have faced prolonged behavioural crises, resulting in residential placements and multi-agency interventions. These examples will demonstrated how Reattach and NVR have been successfully integrated to support parents.

This session illustrated practical methods for promoting emotional resilience, regulation and increased resource and optimism.

Amy had the opportunity not only share her knowledge but to also gain knowledge from other speakers and to navigate through Amsterdam.

One of the speakers was Haim Omer.

Haim Omer is the founder of  the Non Violent Resistance-approach for parents and teachers.  He is emeritus professor at the School of Psychological Sciences at Tel Aviv University. He has developed the model of Non Violent Resistance in families, later evolving into New Authority, with its application to families, schools and communities. 

He is the author of 11 books and more than 80 academic articles. He has published many studies on the method and its applications with parents of children with aggressive behavior (like child-to-parent violence and violence against siblings), juvenile delinquency, anxiety disorders and OCD, depression and suicidality, school refusal, teen-drivers and prevention of computer- and smartphone abuse.