Attachment-Focused Therapy

A form of psychotherapy that focuses on understanding and healing how early relationships with caregivers affect emotional life and patterns in adult relationships. The theory is based on attachment theory, initially developed by John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth, which explains how the quality of early bonds with primary caregivers shapes how people regulate their emotions, form relationships, and feel secure or insecure in the world.

In attachment-focused therapy, the therapist helps clients to:

• Recognize how early attachment experiences, such as feeling neglected, abandoned, or receiving inconsistent care, have created patterns of insecurity or emotional pain.
• Understand how these early patterns appear today in their relationships, such as fears of abandonment, difficulty trusting, or intimacy issues.
• Develop new, healthier ways of connecting and regulating emotions, often through building a secure, trusting therapeutic relationship that provides corrective emotional experiences.
• Process and heal wounds from attachment traumas or losses, helping clients move towards more secure attachment styles.

It is often used with individuals who have experienced childhood trauma, neglect, abuse, or who face relationship problems, anxiety, or personality disorders. This therapy focuses on how we relate to others and ourselves through the lens of early connection needs.