Father Wounds: Helping Clients Heal from Paternal Attachment Injuries

Course Summary

Earthly father wounds, including absence, abuse, neglect, and abandonment, can significantly affect psychological, emotional, spiritual, and relational functioning across the lifespan. A willing Christian client’s experience with an earthly father often influences attachment patterns, emotional regulation, identity formation, trust, authority dynamics, relational behavior, and perceptions of God. Both men and women may present in counseling with unresolved paternal wounds that manifest in anxiety, insecurity, spiritual confusion, maladaptive relationship patterns, and difficulty understanding God as Father. This session equips clinicians to recognize wounds and voids related to paternal injury and to assess their impact within family-of-origin dynamics and current functioning. Practical assessment strategies and therapeutic interventions will be presented to help clients process unresolved father-related pain, address distorted beliefs about self, others, and God, and support healing through forgiveness, renewed identity, and healthier relational patterns. 

Learning Objectives

Participants will...

1. Identify at least three ways paternal injuries, including absence, abuse, neglect, and abandonment, influence attachment patterns, emotional functioning, identity formation, relational behavior, and perceptions of God.
2. Assess at least two clinical indicators of unresolved father wounds within family-of-origin dynamics, current symptoms, interpersonal functioning, and spiritual struggles.
3. Apply at least two therapeutic interventions to help willing Christian clients process father-related injuries, address distorted beliefs about self and God, and develop healthier emotional and relational patterns.

Course Presenter

Michelle Watson Canfield, Ph.D., LPC, and Ken R. Canfield, Ph.D. 

Continuing Education Approval Statements

American Association of Christian Counselors has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7543. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. American Association of Christian Counselors is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

The American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC) offers some psychologists, therapists, counselors, social workers and play therapists Continuing Education (CE) credit due for good standing with certain states and a limited number of professional organizations. It remains the responsibility of each participant to be aware of state licensure and CE requirements.

Participants should check their state and/or local regulations regarding required continuing education hours. For more information Light University Continuing Education programs, please visit: https://lightuniversity.com/continuing-education-stateme