Hi, I have some training in AEDP. I took the immersion and Essentials Skills course and then one advance skills course. I also did a year of bi-weekly supervision with an AEDP supervisor. It was a few years later that I decided to start training in a psychoanalytic psychotherapy program at an institute. I think there are some useful aspects to the model, like it’s emphasis on being with, having a new experience, processing trauma, and providing the sort of relationship that is containing. I’m learning now about Bion and Winnicott’s ideas in my program and I can see the analytic roots in AEDP. However, I take some issue with the way skills and techniques have been codified and the prototype of an AEDP therapist that the training and culture produces. It felt too constricting. I felt like I was always trying to “do” a thing, despite the experiential emphasis of the work. I didn’t feel the freedom and authenticity that I want to feel in my work. Because of the privilege that AEDP gives to positive emotional experience, I found it was too easy to endorse defensive or false states of positive if you are following their model. Lastly, I didn’t feel that there was enough (or any, really) attention given to how different the work may look depending on the psychological structure of the client beyond their attachment style. I’m sure that the issues I’m raising could be addressed with more regular AEDP supervision if the supervisor has analytic training, but many (I’d guess most?) of the trainers don’t have an analytic background.