Attachment Therapy

How Is Attachment Therapy Approached? What Is The Process?

Attachment therapy is approached in stages using an Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) and Emotion Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT), a therapeutic approach that emphasizes the role of emotions on mental health. In the context of Attachment therapy, the EFT approach helps individuals, couples and family members understand and respond to each other's emotions more effectively, fostering stronger and more secure relationships.

• In The First Stage: We help guide you to become aware of emerging patterns that are occurring in your life by understanding how foundational attachment building experiences in early life shape the way you approach relationships today.

• In The Second Stage: We provide compassionate guidance on approaching painful experiences. By building up the ability to name the uncomfortable experiences, you are able to make the pain more manageable within the experience of the emotion. 

• In The Third Stage: We explore the painful experience to process emotions that are brought up through memories of the event. We then work to assemble these memories in a way to observe and recall them without adding negative emotions such as shame and guilt to reactions about the events.

• In The Fourth Stage: Stage four allows you to reclaim your  understanding of self and release the built up emotions, through this assembly of understanding and forgiveness towards self while challenging old patterns of behaviour. This process is done with individuals, couples or families. When tackling attachment issues for couples working on their relationship, we look at the emotions we experience in the relationship, and the patterns that are interrupting trust and security between loved ones.

How Can Attachment Therapy Help Me Work On My Attachment Issues?

Attachment therapy works under the understanding that people act in patterns and these patterns are responses to experiences. By understanding the subconscious nature that these patterns play out through, attachment therapy helps us understand that not every problem is responded to, or can be solved by using a rational mind.

We can’t out-think our emotions, yet we often try to rationalize or suppress emotions to help us stay safe from painful emotional experiences. Through experiencing these emotions and listening to how these patterns, even though unhelpful, are trying to keep us safe, your therapist will work together with you to gain insight into why you are experiencing certain emotions in relationships, and how these emotional reactions may drive you to behave in specific and repetitive ways towards others. Attachment issues are often linked to past traumas or wounds. Attachment Therapy provides a safe space to address and process these experiences, facilitating healing and reducing the impact of unresolved issues on current relationships.

Attachment Therapy encourages deep exploration of emotional experiences, allowing individuals to connect with and understand their feelings. This process helps uncover the root causes of attachment issues by fostering self-awareness and insight by proactively working through uncomfortable emotions.