Attachment-Based Therapy in Phoenix, AZ

You probably already know that there are several different therapeutic approaches in existence that aim to help you achieve different goals and work through different types of problems. Attachment-based therapy is a specific type of therapy that focuses on your history of attachments with others, attachment issues, and how those attachments have influenced you and your overall functioning. It targets behaviors, feelings, thoughts, communication, and interpersonal transactions that you have learned to avoid, suppress, or exacerbate because of early attachment problems.¹

Our Attachment based therapy in Phoenix, AZ, is designed to provide you with a safe and nurturing space to explore and understand the impact of your attachment experiences. Let’s take a deeper look into this style of therapy and how it can work for you.

Attachment Theory

Attachment theory incorporates individual growth, reflection, and healthy human development with the strengthening of interpersonal relationships. More specifically, this theory purports that psychological growth is a result of strengthening self-reflection and self-understanding in combination with enhancing new, more positive experiences in current relationships.² Attachment-based therapy can be conducted in a variety of settings, including individual and family.

Targets of Individual Treatment

There are two main objectives in attachment-based therapy. The first objective focuses on the relationship between you and the therapist. The therapist works with you to create a secure and trusting relationship between the two of you; it is the development of a responsive, trusting, and open relationship between you and the therapist that helps you progress into the second target of treatment which is addressing suppressed emotions.1 In individual attachment-based therapy, the therapist acts as the “good parent” who helps you develop trust in yourself and others.²

The second objective of individual attachment-based therapy is to address communications and emotions that you have learned to overemphasize or suppress in early attachments with loved ones, based on your attachment style.1 Addressing the suppressed or overemphasized emotions, and communications can only effectively occur after you have developed a secure relationship with your therapist. It may be helpful to think of attachment therapy in two parts:

1. To create a safe and trusting relationship
2. Unpack and process unhealthy attachments from your past.

Attachment-Based Family Therapy in Phoenix, Arizona

Like many other treatment approaches, attachment-based therapy can be conducted in an individual or family setting. Attachment-based Like many other treatment approaches, attachment-based therapy can be conducted in an individual or family setting. Attachment-based family therapy (ABFT) capitalizes on the biological, innate, and existential urge for secure and meaningful relationships with others.² In ABFT, treatment focuses on emotions and interpersonal experiences of the past. Together, your family, along with the therapist, works to identify what experiences (such as abuse, relational trauma) and relational processes (severe criticism) have damaged the trust and bond among the family relationships; by uncovering these negative experiences, the family can have an honest and open conversation that is regulated and managed.² (ABFT) capitalizes on the biological, innate, and existential urge for secure and meaningful relationships with others.² In ABFT, treatment focuses on emotions and interpersonal experiences of the past. Together, your family, along with the therapist, works to identify what experiences (such as abuse, relational trauma) and relational processes (severe criticism) have damaged the trust and bond among the family relationships; by uncovering these negative experiences, the family can have an honest and open conversation that is regulated and managed.²

Topics of sessions can include:

• Neglect
• Abuse
• Disappointments
• Abandonments
• Divorce
• Parental mental illness
• Loss

Exploring these vulnerable topics in a controlled setting with a regulator (the therapist) provides an opportunity for family members to learn new and healthy ways of communicating with one another. By addressing these familial traumas and challenges, individual members of the family are also given an opportunity to process and work through the challenges on an individual level.² If you are struggling to form and maintain healthy relationships, attachment-based individual or family therapy may be suitable for you.

Overarching Goal of Treatment

There is no denying that relationships can impact us in several ways, which can be both positive and negative. The attachments we form early on in life can impact the way we view the world, interact with others, and function in our lives. Attachment therapy in Phoenix aims to help you discover new ways of interacting and behaving in relationships as well as new ways of finding secure attachment and approaching the world.¹ Additionally, the way you view yourself begins to change through therapy, and you can construct healthy intimate relationships with others.¹ Attachment-based therapy helps you not only grow in relationships but as an individual as well.

Attachment-Based Therapy Center in Phoenix, AZ

If you or someone you love is struggling with relationships, mental health, or substance abuse challenges, help is available. Camelback Recovery offers several treatment services to help you overcome obstacles and create a high quality of life for yourself. Mental health and addiction don’t have to rule your life. Camelback Recovery, the leading mental health and addiction treatment center in Arizona, offers outpatient addiction treatment, including sober living programs for both men and women. By calling 602-466-9880, you can speak to a specialist who can help answer questions about addiction and mental health treatment, help verify your insurance coverage, and identify the appropriate treatment for you based on your needs.

Sources:

1. American Psychological Association. (2015). Attachment-based therapy in practice.
2. Diamond, G., Levy, S., Russon, J. (2016). Attachment-based family therapy: A review of the empirical support. Family Process, x(x), p.1-16.