Applications of Attachment Theory to Psychotherapy and Counseling
Attachment theory explains how early relationships between children and their primary caregivers shape emotional, social, and cognitive development and behavior across the lifespan. This course provides a comprehensive review of attachment theory and focuses on practical applications to psychotherapy and counseling across the lifespan and with different therapeutic orientations and treatment modalities. It consists of three parts, available in both written and audio formats.
The first section provides an overview of attachment theory, including its origins, key theorists, concepts, and manifestation across the lifespan. It also addresses the current applications of attachment theory and nine fundamental questions that clinicians and researchers continue to grapple with in the decades since attachment theory’s inception.
The second section explores the ways in which attachment is a predictor and mechanism of change in psychotherapy and counseling. Specific therapeutic tasks are reviewed within an attachment perspective. These include engaging in treatment, facilitating the exploration of relationships, promoting emotional regulation, revising internal working models, and fostering healthy relationships. The section concludes with an in-depth discussion of the ways in which the client’s and therapist’s attachment affect the psychotherapy process and outcome and the ways in which attachment can be measured within the therapeutic relationship.
The third section applies attachment to psychotherapy and counseling across the lifespan and across various theoretical orientations and treatment modalities. Diagnoses, assessment measures, and attachment-based interventions are included for infants and young children, school-aged children, adolescents, and adults. A sample case is presented with hypothetical session transcripts for attachment-based psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, emotion-focused, and client-centered therapies.
Educational Objectives
This course will teach the participant to
- Discuss the key concepts, theorists, and ongoing clinical/research questions related to attachment theory.
- Explain how clients’ and therapists’ attachment play significant roles in the therapeutic process.
- Describe how attachment theory is applied to psychotherapy and counseling across the lifespan, including common diagnoses, assessment measures, and attachment-based programs.
Syllabus
Overview of Attachment
- Main attachment theorists and contributions
- Bowlby – attachment systems, secure base, internal working models
- Ainsworth – infant attachment assessment, classification, and stability
- Main – adult attachment assessment, classification, and stability
- Attachment across the lifespan – manifestations of secure and insecure attachment in infants through older adults
- Current status of attachment theory – applications to diverse fields
- Fundamental ongoing clinical and research questions
- What kinds of relationships constitute attachment relationships?
- How should attachment security be assessed?
- What are internal working models, and how do they operate?
- Should we expect attachment security to remain consistent over time?
- What domains of later behavior should early attachment relationships predict and why?
- How are attachment processes manifested in different cultures?
- How do people respond to the loss of an attachment figure?
- How do attachment-based interventions work?
- How are attachment theory and research relevant to systems and services for children and families?
Attachment as Predictor and Mechanism of Change in Psychotherapy and Counseling
- Attachment and the therapists’ tasks in session
- Engaging in treatment: therapist as secure base and safe haven
- Facilitating exploration of relationships
- Promoting emotional regulation
- Revising internal working models
- Fostering healthy relationships
- Repairing misattunement and ruptures
- Understanding obstacles to change
- Preparing for termination
- How clients’ attachment affects treatment
- Engaging in therapeutic relationship
- Exploration of relationships, emotions, and internal working models
- Assessment of clients’ attachment within therapeutic relationship
- How therapists’ attachment affects treatment
- Therapeutic relationship, therapy process, outcome
- Assessment of therapists’ attachment and attunement within therapeutic relationship
Applying Attachment to Psychotherapy and Counseling Across the Lifespan and Across Therapeutic Orientations
- Attachment across the lifespan
- Infants and young children
- Reactive Attachment Disorder
- Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder
- Attachment-based programs
- School-aged children
- Internalizing and externalizing disorders
- Attachment-based programs
- Assessment measures
- Adolescents
- More nuanced and multifaceted working models
- Attachment-based programs
- Parent and family programs
- Adolescent-focused programs
- Assessment measures
- Adults
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Substance use disorders
- Borderline personality disorder
- Attachment-based programs
- Attachment across theoretical orientations: Sample session transcripts
- Psychodynamic
- Cognitive-behavioral
- Emotion-focused
- Client-centered