The Wider Community
Creating space for conversation, curiosity and connection
Why Attachment Theory?
Attachment is about more than theory. It is about how we relate to one another, how we experience connection and disconnection, and how our relationships shape the way we understand ourselves and the world around us.
At IAN UK, we want to create spaces where these ideas can be explored beyond the consulting room, classroom or conference.
Our wider community brings together people who are curious about attachment and relationships — whether that interest comes through personal experience, parenting, study, professional life, or simply a wish to understand ourselves and one another a little better.
You don’t need to be an attachment expert. You just need to be curious.
The IAN Connection Café
A monthly in-person space to meet, think and connect
The IAN Connection Café is our exclusive in-person monthly, salon-style gathering where we come together to explore ideas about attachment, relationships and what it means to be human.
Each month, we will introduce a theme, question or conversation to get us thinking. There might be a short talk, an interview, a piece of research, a film or an idea to respond to — but the heart of the café is the conversation that follows.
It is not a lecture or a training session. It is a space to listen, contribute, exchange perspectives and make connections with others.
Join us in person, have a cup of tea or coffee, and be part of the conversation.
Why a Connection Café?
Attachment happens between us.
While books, research and therapy can deepen our understanding, there is something different about thinking together — hearing another person's perspective, having our assumptions challenged, recognising something of ourselves in someone else's experience, or discovering a question we hadn't thought to ask.
The Connection Café is an invitation to be curious and explore some of the questions that sit at the heart of attachment:
How do we connect?
What helps us feel safe with one another?
What happens when relationships become difficult?
How do our earliest experiences continue to shape us?
And how might understanding attachment help us relate differently?
There may not always be simple answers. The value is in having a place where we can explore the questions together.
Join the conversation online
A monthly space to meet, think and connect
We know that not everyone can join us in person, so the conversation will continue online.
After each Connection Café, you will be able to watch a recording of the session and join an online gathering where we will explore the theme together in smaller breakout rooms.
It is a chance to reflect on what you have heard, share your own thoughts and hear different perspectives — wherever you are joining us from.
For some people, an interest in attachment grows through their own therapeutic journey. Therapy can open up new ways of understanding ourselves, our relationships and the patterns we carry with us and those conversations do not necessarily end when therapy does.
The IAN Connection Café offers a different kind of space in which that curiosity can continue. It is not therapy, or a substitute for therapeutic support, but an opportunity to keep thinking, learning and connecting with others in a wider community.
You may want to deepen your understanding of attachment, hear how others think about relationships, encounter new ideas, or simply remain connected to conversations that have become meaningful to you.
There is no expectation to share personal experiences. You are welcome to participate in whatever way feels comfortable — to contribute, ask questions, listen and reflect.
Continuing the conversation beyond therapy
Everyone is welcome
You might already know a great deal about attachment, or this might be the beginning of your interest.
You might come through your own experience of therapy, as a parent or carer (although we also have dedicated (IAN Nurturing Connections Café for parents, teachers and carers), through study or professional work, or simply because you are curious about attachment and relationships.
The IAN Connection Café is about bringing different people and perspectives into the same conversation.