Attachment-Based Therapy relies on John Bowlby’s Attachment Theory to inform the therapeutic process. Attachment Theory emphasizes the quality of an infant’s connection to its parent, most primarily its mother. If a child is adequately cared for and responded to, they will grow up to form healthy relationships. If a mother is too distant, unresponsive, or overly cautious, the infant is more likely to grow up to experience unhealthy relationships. Children must get adequate care and love to learn to trust others and themselves.
Attachment-Based Therapy’s goal is to help you rebuild the context of your relationships in more healthy, positive ways. Your therapist will show you openness, caring, and empathy. You can experience what a healthy relationship looks and feels like through this therapeutic relationship.
Although therapists can use it for individual or group therapy, you may benefit from Attachment-Based Therapy in a family therapy setting.
Your therapist will help you discover your particular attachment style based on your relationship with your parents and your early memories of family relationships. They also will explore your current relationship dynamics as they relate to your upbringing. With this understanding, you and your therapist can then begin to restructure your existing relationships based on a foundation of love and trust.
Therapists Who Specialize in Using Attachment-Based Therapy
When life becomes heavy and daily tasks are more difficult than ever, a change is needed. Stress often creeps in unnoticed, but leaves a lasting impact on every aspect of daily life. Difficulty sleeping, an unquiet mind, feelings of dread, or loss of hope are just some of the symptoms that can come in to wreak havoc on your well being. When it feels too heavy to face alone, it's time to bring i...
My client-centered approach is built upon the knowledge that profound personal change and healing occur within the safety and security of a nurturing, collaborative therapeutic relationship. With expertise in fostering self-awareness and strengthening problem-solving and coping abilities, I work in the here-and-now to help clients achieve sustainable change and satisfaction in various aspects o...
Are you preoccupied with thoughts about food and exercise? Do you feel shame when you don’t “measure up” to certain expectations? Are you your own worst critic? I am passionate about helping people strengthen their self-relationship. In a culture that promotes and celebrates unrealistic body ideals, it’s no wonder many of us struggle with body-image issues, eating disorders, and low self-esteem...
Having experienced my own childhood trauma,I really enjoy working with those who may suffer from their own attachment and developmental issues. These issues often lie under our anxiety and depression,marital stress. I also work with individuals suffering current or old complicated loss.This is the work of my life! I treat my clients with respect,work to earn their trust by really listening to...
People seek my professional help for a variety of reasons. Sometimes, something in their lives is just not right. They may wish to make specific changes or to understand themselves better. They may struggle with their relationships, have difficulties in their jobs or studies, and/or old traumas continue to negatively affect their present. Also, sometimes they just don’t know what to do with the...
**NOT ACCEPTING NEW CLIENTS CURRENTLY** Life seems harder for your child than others. Just getting through each day is a challenge. As you see your child struggle, you feel frustrated and drained. Maybe your family is stuck together in your child's hard place. The energy seems to flow to dealing with sadness, worry, or acting out. Once the situation seemed a passing phase, but more and more it...
***NOT CURRENTLY TAKING ANY NEW CLIENTS- waitlist available***** Deciding to start therapy can be a daunting process. I provide a supportive, engaging and safe therapeutic environment to explore the problems keeping you from feeling your best self. I believe therapy should be a collaborative, solution-focused process that provides you clarity, insight into unresolved emotional wounds and sympto...
Are you ready to heal the root level? The team at Illuminate Wellness provides an integrative approach to healing with evidence-based treatment modalities that encourage self-nurturing, self-reliance, and finding the delicate balance between acceptance and change. Sometimes we all need a bit of extra support. Let us help you heal in an open, non-judgmental, and safe space created just for you t...
I have been practicing for over 20 years as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in a variety of settings including hospitals, out patient mental health clinics, school-based counseling, and most recently a group private practice. I enjoy working with children, adolescents, adults, couples and families. Many people struggle with depression, anxiety, stress, grief, unexpected crisis, tragedy and...
It takes courage to discover personal insight, to address current challenges, and/or to heal past wounds. And, we arrive to therapy for various reasons. Sometimes, we come as individuals, sometimes as a couple or a family. Together, we address your goals so that you can gain a better understanding of what may need to transform in order to live your best life-- whether it's a life transition, su...
Life transitions can be tough. Did you just get a new job, start college, or recently graduate? Maybe you just got engaged and are struggling with this big change in your life. Or you’re experiencing communication difficulties in your long time marriage. These transitions in life can be draining emotionally, increasing anxiety and sadness. You may notice that you distance yourself from others,...
I believe joys and struggles in life stem from relationships. The relationship may be with yourself as you seek to establish your identity, values, and goals. Your relationship with others, such as your parents, spouse, children, co-workers, or friends, may need to be developed, redefined, clarified, or understood. Trauma, anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem are a few of the things that ca...
Many people ask me, "Why would I want to feel my feelings?” Whether you are constantly staring at a screen, filling every space on your calendar to avoid being alone with your thoughts, putting on a new mask for every person you encounter, or using alcohol as "social lubricant" to quiet the noise, many of us have mastered the art of avoidance. Some of us neatly tuck our feelings away, trading o...
We’re unfortunately not born with a manual on how to live life. It’s unpredictable complexities jolt us out of the path we had so carefully planned for ourselves, and leave us in a place of feeling lost. These obstacles can appear in various ways; parenting, relationships, work, loss, violence, and sometimes do not appear at all except for a knot in our stomach. What does one do when the next s...
***Currently, I am not accepting new patients. As an art therapist, my approach to psychotherapy is creative and depth-oriented. Art making and the creative process guide the exploration of presenting and underlying conflicts, symptoms, and feelings of dis-ease. Sometimes, explaining the hurt we are experiencing can be too difficult to put into words. Giving visual form to feelings, thoughts, a...
