Early Attachment
A child's earliest relationships can create lifelong templates for regulation, self-worth, and connection. In some cases, those templates don't serve them well later in life and can be passed on to the next generation. Articles in this category explore working with attachment traumas and supporting overwhelmed caregivers so they can more fully connect with their children. You'll find guidance on attunement and coregulation, as well as practical strategies for repairing early misalignments in both child and adult treatment. Across personal narratives, case examples, and skills-focused teaching, these stories offer a clinically rich look at how small moments of responsiveness and curiosity can open new developmental pathways.
VIDEO: Who Should You Talk To?
Janina Fisher on how and when to speak to a client’s “child part”
We used to think that disordered attachment was the result of early parental neglect or abuse. But today, has a paradoxical mix of parental overinvolvement and... Read more
Most parents “loan” children their adult regulatory system beginning at birth. But developmentally traumatized teens have missed out on this opportunity... Read more
When Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy developer Daniel Hughes first started working with children who struggled with serious behavioral and emotional... Read more
Down for the count, a therapist again discovers that even the most hopeless sessions can have a positive outcome if you stay with the process. Read more
In recent years, attachment theory, with its emphasis on early bonding, connection and relationship, has exerted as much influence over the field of... Read more
While therapists may consider some intuitively appealing ideas about human development---like attachment theory---beyond dispute, the researcher's job is to... Read more
Fifty years of research has confirmed that the emotional quality of our earliest attachment relationships is central to our well-being as adults. Read more
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