What is Attachment-Based Therapy?

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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

Lindsey Suter

Baltimore

Maryland

Welcome! I specialize in working with children, adolescents and young adults coping with anxiety, depression and/or other behavioral difficulties related to life transitions including but not limited to divorce, out of home placement, grief and loss. I work closely with families and focus on the importance of relationships, building self worth and creating/maintaining peace at home. Caregiver...
When children are wrestling with emotions and experiences that are too big to handle, play can communicate much more than words. Play therapy, art, movement, sand-tray therapy, and story are the tools I use to give children the safe place they need to grow and heal. Adolescents experience a great deal of anxiety and stress regarding social status, academic performance, and future planning durin...
Kids and teens often face unique struggles that must be uniquely approached. As a specialized youth therapist, I recognize that academic stress, self-esteem, self-harm, depression/anxiety, and behavioral issues impact youth and their families in unique ways. I am here to partner with you and your child to better understand and address the underlying causes of your child or teen's struggles. I...
Offering client centered, solution focused, compassionate, guidance and support. As we begin our work you will discover, and we will tap into, your strengths; even if you don't think you have any, you do. You will learn to communicate in a healthy productive manner, which will improve your relationships in all aspects of your life, to include with yourself. You will gain perspective about self,...

Gideon Litherland

Chicago

Illinois

Gideon is a clinical counselor, supervisor, and consultant at Veduta Consulting, LLC. He works with individuals, couples, and groups from a relational-cultural approach. Gideon received his MA in Counseling Psychology from the Family Institute at Northwestern University in 2014. He then completed advanced postgraduate training in humanistic, client-centered counseling through the Barbara Temane...
I believe everyone is capable of growth and healing if they are provided sufficient encouragement, support, and effective strategies. My therapeutic style involves learning the important life stories of my clients, and allowing them to identify and communicate their unique needs and concerns. Clients may be interested in discovering more about themselves, seeking to improve interpersonal...

Julie Manoogian

San Diego

California

I specialize in individual and couples psychotherapy. I have over 18 years of experience in the mental health field and I have worked in multiple settings, including college counseling centers, an inpatient residential treatment facility, and private practice. I am particularly interested in the treatment of relationship challenges, emotion regulation, anxiety, stress, depression, and trauma. I...
​I believe that no two paths are the same. Everyone has a unique path that makes them who they are. This path may lead to a planned destination, make an unexpected turn, or hit a few bumps along the way. Change can be hard and heightened feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression can make that change feel much more difficult and lonely. Instead of allowing these changes in our path to hold us...

Sidney Funk

Wichita

Kansas

I have 11+ years of experience working with adolescents, adults, couples, and family systems. My treatment approach is based on the belief that most people desire to make improvements in their lives and overcome hurdles that keep them stuck. I tend to see the best in people, focusing on their strengths, and assisting them in pulling out and expanding their own internal resources and abilities. ...

Kimberly McKittrick

Seattle

Washington

You may be seeking therapy because you find yourself repeating the same unhelpful patterns – in your relationships, at work or school, or in how you feel and think about yourself – but you don’t seem able to change them. Or you may see and worry about the emotional or behavioral patterns that your child or teenager is developing, and not know how to help them. I work to help adults, teenagers, ...

Dr. Natalie Stemati

Denver

Colorado

Hi! Thanks for visiting my page. I have discovered a common obstacle among clients is how they are highly self-critical with themselves and subsequently experience distress in their world. This process manifests into or intensifies symptoms (i.e. depression, anxiety, trauma, low self-worth, and/or relationship issues, etc). Using a relational approach, I work to help clients build self-awarenes...

Courtney Kershaw

Denver

Colorado

My passion is working with couples to positively impact their relationship and find new ways of communicating with each other, and I have found that using Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy is an exceptional tool to address attachment in family systems. I have also been fortunate enough to expand my experience into addressing substance use and the impact that it can have on not only the...
I offer a compassionate and understanding approach to therapy and believe a strong therapeutic relationship is key to moving forward with change and progress. A client needs to feel safe and supported so they can tell their story, untangle their emotions and find a new direction to move forward. This approach is effective to help a client with whatever their issues may be. It is based on positi...
**I am currently not accepting new clients** You look around and ask yourself “Is this really my life right now?” Some days are okay, some are uncomfortable, and others are intolerable. In the tough moments, the things you've tried before don't seem to work. Maybe someone you cared about died. Maybe that inner critic voice is louder or more persistent than it has been before. Maybe your child’s...

Spencer Chernick, LMFT

San Diego

California

I deeply value peoples' ability to be honest and kind to themselves so they can recognize when change is needed, but also forgive themselves for having struggled... because struggling is human. We all struggle, we all make mistakes, and we all have been in a place where we may not have presented as our best selves. Things in life can be difficult and we may lose sight of our importance and valu...