58th Annual PCA Conference

Name: “Who Is My Safe Haven?" Attachment Needs in the Era of AI and Influencer Culture (1 CE)
Start: 2026-11-07T14:30:00-0500
End: 2026-11-07T15:30:00-0500

“Who Is My Safe Haven?" Attachment Needs in the Era of AI and Influencer Culture (1 CE)

Saturday November 7, 2026 2:30pm - 3:30pm EST

Session Feedback (for CEs)

The digital age has transformed how individuals form and experience attachment bonds with others. Increasingly, clients report significant connections with podcasters, online creators, influencers, and even AI-based chatbots. While these parasocial relationships may provide a sense of belonging, they can also reinforce attachment avoidance and displace opportunities for reciprocal connection.

Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT), an attachment-based model developed by Sue Johnson and advanced through the International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT), offers a structured framework for working with attachment longings and emotional regulation at the individual level (Johnson, 2019). This presentation will conceptualize parasocial and AI-mediated bonds as adaptive attempts at emotional regulation rooted in attachment needs. This presentation will also explore how EFIT interventions can help clients move from one-directional digital attachment toward relationship to self and then, hopefully, reciprocal relationship to others.

Through clinical case illustration of EFIT process moves and guided discussion, attendees will learn how to assess attachment function within digital relationships, identify avoidance and protest cycles reinforced by online engagement, and facilitate corrective emotional experiences that expand relational risk-taking. Ethical considerations related to AI use and digital dependency will also be addressed. This session responds directly to the counseling profession’s need to adapt clinical frameworks to evolving technological and relational landscapes.

Speakers

Nick Summa, PhD LMFT LPC

Clinical Director, Congruent Relationships Counseling & Wellness

Nick Summa is the Clinical Director of Congruent Relationships, a group practice specializing in relational healing. He is dually licensed as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and is an AAMFT Approved Supervisor. His clinical work centers on s... Read More →

Saturday November 7, 2026 2:30pm - 3:30pm EST

60 Minute Education Session

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58th Annual PCA Conference

Nick Summa, PhD LMFT LPC

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58th Annual PCA Conference

Nick Summa, PhD LMFT LPC

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