Landscapes of the Soul: How the Science and Spirituality of Attachment Can Move You into Confident Faith, Courage, and Connection

by Cyd Holsclaw

Genres: Christian

256 pages, Paperback

Published August 5, 2025

Reviews

[Daniel Im · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This is the best book I’ve read to date that syncs up attachment theory and spiritual growth in everyday language.

[Holly Browning · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books I've read about how interconnected our temperament, nature, and upbringing is to our very spirit. When our spirit struggles to connect with the Lord, this book has touched on the different aspects to consider. Very helpful. Highly recommended! #landscapesofthesoul #cydandgeoffholsclaw #netgalley #goodreads

[Ashley Chesnut · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best Christian book on attachment I’ve read thus far. It is both helpful and hope-filled in how the authors describe insecure attachment with God and how to move toward security with him.

Part 1 presents the vision of God’s good design: joyful connection with him; healthy intimacy and independence; and faith, hope, and love.

Part 2 describes attachment filters using the helpful imagery of the pasture, desert, jungle, and war zone, and I’ve started using this language when helping others understand how they approach relationships with people and with God bc it’s so simple yet comprehensive. I also appreciate how validating and dignifying the authors are in recognizing that insecure attachment filters emphasize survival strengths, that they serve a purpose but need to be balanced by other skills/ways of relating.

Part 3 looks at various texts of Scripture to teach us about attaching to God. The final chapter is fire as it examines spiritual practices and how attachment affects how one views such practices and how they can lean into strengths and take steps to move toward greater security with God.

Highly recommend all believers read this book. But it needs to be essential reading for those who work in ministry or in the mental health field.

[Michael Wenig · Rating 5 out of 5]

God has used this book in a timely way in my life, and therefore I am very thankful for it and the content within!

[Mara Eller · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful, life-changing book!

I was already familiar with the concept of relational joy and its essential role in our faith, but this book did a fantastic job of unpacking what gets in our way when we try to connect with God, and with others. The book is totally accessible if you haven’t learned anything about attachment or about relational spiritually before, but it also has plenty of depth and nuance for those with a foundation in those concepts.

I love the way they explain the attachment styles and particularly how they emphasize that each style has strengths even if they aren't in balance. I was able to get clarity on my attachment style (it wasn't what I thought!) and to learn practical ways to grow past my limitations.

The last chapter is where you'll find all the exercises, and they are GOLD!

Plus, it’s so well written! The table of contents alone had me in awe. That kind of beauty and clarity is no accident; rather, it’s the result of extremely careful thinking, ideas refined over many months is not years. It feels like every word was carefully chosen.

Highly recommend!!

[Sandy Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I began learning about attachment theory several years ago, I began to understand that the actions of two people changed the trajectory of my life. Believing I could do nothing about that was both disorienting and distressing. Then I heard the Holsclaws address the topic of attachment strategies, and I felt a glimmer of hope. In their new book, Cyd and Geoff Holsclaw take an honest look at how the harm (or lack of care) we face in childhood sets us up to experience life and faith. Whether you grew up in the attachment jungle, desert, war zone, or the pasture of secure attachment, Landscapes of the Soul offers helpful insight into understanding ourselves and others. While laying out the stark reality of the landscapes, the book also covers the gifts included in each, and how we can move from wherever we find ourselves to the place we were always intended to live—deeply attached to the God who is already deeply attached to us. This book is a gift to the field of developmental psychology, to the Church, and to the world.

[Brad Sumner · Rating 5 out of 5]

You’ll feel like Cyd and Geoff are your personal coaches, spiritual directors and theological guides. This is a plucky little book – you will likely feel and experience challenges as you read it but always from a posture of invitation to connection and joy and grace. There is a real sense of integration here and those who inhabit the worlds of brain science and counselling will find a beautiful and thoughtful pairing and partnership with those who love to talk theology and discipleship. The images are clear, the stories compelling and relatable and the practices and descriptions of churches, small groups and motivations for activities (and how we can miss each other) are all powerful and effective. It’s a GREAT audio book but also would make an excellent small group study as the discussion questions at the end of each chapter are dynamic, unique and helpful. I highly recommend this book.

[Dillene Van · Rating 5 out of 5]

Geoff and Cyd Holsclaw offer a deeply insightful and accessible look at how neuroscience and theology together reveal God’s design for the human mind, body, and soul. They explore how our attachment patterns—shaped over time—impact not only our relationships with others, but also with God.

This book gave me language and perspective to better understand my own patterns and how God invites us into healing and secure attachment with Him. It’s an encouraging guide for anyone feeling stuck or longing for deeper connection and transformation.

Whether you’re a pastor, therapist, or simply seeking greater wholeness, Landscapes of the Soul is both mirror and map—reflecting our inner world while pointing us toward a life rooted in the unwavering love of God.

[Anne Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd been told about an insight a friend remembered from a Jim Wilder book that I wanted to investigate further. Unfortunately, she couldn't remember just which one. So I looked for the usual suspects at my local bookstore and up in the search popped Rare Leadership: 4 Uncommon Habits For Increasing Trust, Joy, and Engagement in the People You Lead and Landscapes of the Soul: How the Science and Spirituality of Attachment Can Move You into Confident Faith, Courage, and Connection. And even though Wilder had only written the Foreword to the book, the title attracted me enough to add it to the purchase.

Now I might have rated this higher if I hadn't read RARE Leadership first. But in doing so, I became aware of how the identity part of the brain runs faster than the data-processing side and, as a consequence, all you're left with from the identity side is vague, intuitive, often inarticulate impressions. And that's my problem: I have a sense that there's something BIG missing in this book but I can't tell you what it is. There's a hole the size of the moon and I can't put my finger on its nature.

So with that caveat, it's an otherwise valuable book.
When the autonomic nervous system (ANS) does not detect threat or danger, it prioritises connection. Otherwise, it prioritises protection. We flow between connection and protection in different ways, depending on life experience. (p9f) Much of life revolves around three words: if I am in distress, will someone help me? (Yes, No, Maybe.) (p10) One of these three words becomes your default expectation around relationships. (p11)

Joy is a relational emotion. Joy needs another person - even if it's only a memory of that person. Joy is a relational experience of sharing gladness with another person. (p20)

We are made for independence alongside God but never independence against God. (p33)

Hope and waiting are often used interchangeably in the Psalms. (p52)

Ever since Adam and Eve, human beings have lived in ways that prioritise protection over connection. (p59)

Repentance means recognising and naming where you are and owning that it's not where you need to be. Repentance is about noticing how sin has shaped the environments you grew up in and owning your responsibility in shaping sinful environments for others. We have all been impacted by fearful survival strategies and protective reactions. (p150)

In sermons and books, the three temptations of Jesus typically stand for the ways people are tempted to sin through distorting human needs for provision, protection and purpose apart from God. (p162)

Speaking into the air: making an indirect request so as not to be rejected. "It sure would be nice to walk into a clean kitchen after work." When we need something but we don't want to risk an outright "no", we make a broad hint. Our thinking is that, if someone cares, they will do something without us having to ask. If there is no response, it's ok, because we didn't actually ask. It's a relationship test that also shields us from hurt or rejection. We can also test our relationship with God this way. (p170)

The face is connected to the heart and the lungs and the gut. The vagus nerve is the primary way your nervous system shifts between connection and protection. (p21)

Emperor Frederick II wanted to find out what language infants would spontaneously speak if they were cared for, nursed and bathed, but never spoken to. All fifty children died. (p22)

When the answer to the question of "Will someone help me in distress?" is maybe, the nervous system becomes wired to catch us to positive relations and slow down to avoid negative ones. It becomes hyper-vigilant. You become extremely focused on the social, emotional and relational environment. Expertly attentive to others, you become a mind reader, an empath, a socioemotional detective. You follow clues hiding under words and promises, disguised in facial expressions, tone of voice and body posture. You become vigilant at detecting what leads to connection or to abandonment. Anxiety about relationships rule. (p69)

[Miss Bibliophile · Rating 5 out of 5]

Attachment theory. How am I to think of it as a Christian?

That’s why I picked up Geoff and Cyd’s book. I’d heard attachment theory talked about in a very secular way that didn’t include God and that was honestly pretty hopeless. And so I was curious to see how Geoff and Cyd would come at this topic from a Christian perspective because I saw the fact that Christ was left out of secular psychology as a major gap.

Geoff and Cyd have filled that gap with gospel infused hope. “...in Jesus, you have agency,” they write. “…Jesus repairs our attachment ruptures. This is how we become deeply attached to God.”

I'm a young adult, and I’ve been blessed to know Jesus for as long as I can remember as I was raised by loving parents who loved the Lord and who taught me His ways. I thought this book would simply fill in the gap that I saw in secular psychology. I'm a person who spends a lot of time thinking, and so I was looking for this book to simply clarify my thoughts around why there is such tremendous hope when God is included in attachment theory. The book did that.

But I came away from this book with more than being intellectually satisfied. Even though I was raised with love and care, as a teenager, I battled severe chronic health issues that left me bedridden for years and at times struggling to believe God loved me and at other times numb to emotion as the suffering felt too overwhelming. I certainly lived in the jungle and desert at different times during those years.

Even though I've healed a lot since then and considered myself to be pretty well attached to God and in what Geoff and Cyd call the pasture before reading the book, I found some of the prayer practices Geoff and Cyd introduced to be very helpful as I continue to heal from the trauma of those difficult years. I came away loving Jesus more and experiencing deeper intimacy with Him as Geoff and Cyd showed me ways to experience Him and His love more fully and painted a picture of what being deeply attached to God can look like. I came away as someone even in an even lusher green pasture. Pick up this book and let Geoff and Cyd show you the path there as well.

[Sylvia Jeronimo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful Concepts, Limited Personal Depth
Landscapes for the Soul offers several meaningful insights for those engaged in Christian spiritual formation, particularly in its exploration of emotional and relational healing. The most compelling and helpful sections focus on the window of tolerance and the process of rupture and repair—concepts that gave me clearer language for understanding how our nervous systems, relationships, and spiritual lives interact. I also appreciated the framing of connection versus protection, which helped name the subtle ways we move away from God and others in order to feel safe.
That said, I found myself wishing for more personal stories from the authors themselves. While the book includes examples drawn from others’ experiences, many of those stories felt somewhat distant and lacked the heartfelt connection that invites deeper trust and resonance. For a book that is ultimately about the inner life and God’s healing presence, I longed for more vulnerability and lived experience to ground the concepts.
Theologically, the book is thoughtful and clearly rooted in a desire to help readers grow in awareness, wholeness, and intimacy with God. At times, however, the pacing feels uneven—some chapters offer rich insight, while others feel repetitive or less embodied, which made the overall journey feel less cohesive.
Still, Landscapes for the Soul provides valuable language and tools, especially for those interested in the intersection of faith, attachment, and emotional formation. While it didn’t fully capture my heart, it offers solid frameworks that can support a deeper understanding of how God meets us in both our wounds and our healing.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too often in religious “self-help” literature and, I might add, in Sunday morning sermons, the answer is to love God more. Trust God more. The genius of this book is that it outlines common obstacles to loving and trusting God as well as allowing God’s love to renew and transform us (what the authors cleverly call the jungle, the desert and the war zone), and then provides suggestions, prayers, and attachment theory neurological insights to actually help us do so. Grounded practical wisdom, based on a powerful combination of Biblical interpretation and theology as well as modern neuroscience and psychology, moves us closer to God. Personal examples elucidate each of the chapters in this flawlessly written book. We see ourselves in the examples, even as we are reassured of the path to the “pasture” and reminded we cannot do this alone, so we should feel no shame on our journey. The grace-filled pages offer God’s compassion and hope alongside of truly innovative ways of exploring our longed-for attachment to God. I highly recommend this book to all Christians and parents, and to pastors like me looking for ingenious ways to help the hopeless.

[Kathleen Cannell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book masterfully explores relational neuroscience and theology, presenting complex concepts with clarity and intuitive visual metaphors that are both memorable and easy to understand.

As someone who grapples with anxious thoughts about relationships, I found this book transformative; it illuminated my default thought patterns and behaviors, fostering a sense of calm and self-acceptance. The authors provide empowering insights on overcoming unhealed attachment strategies, guiding readers towards healthier relational dynamics. I particularly appreciated the book’s focus on cultivating both intimacy and independence, which offers a balanced perspective on these essential aspects of relationships. If you’re seeking growth in these areas amid feelings of imbalance, I highly recommend this insightful read for its hopeful and empowering guidance.

[Christina S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must-read: How Jesus models a secure attachment and heals our attachment wounds

I picked up this book because someone in my small group mentioned how helpful the authors’ landscape metaphors were for understanding attachment theory.

“In his temptations, Jesus is not only modeling, in his humanity, how to defend ourselves against attachment attacks. Jesus is also, in his divinity, repairing our attachment defaults so that we can grow in faith, hope, and love” (178).

I loved reading about the temptations Jesus faced through the lens of his secure attachment with his Father. This book guides us in welcoming Jesus, who meets us in whatever landscape we find ourselves in, and helps us grow towards a more secure attachment with God and others.

[Michael R. Holsclaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have access to a prepublication copy and have found it to be a very readable introduction to attachment theory merged with an exploration of the relationship between attachment and discipleship.

Cyd and Geoff articulately and compassionately explore how failures in early childhood attachment carry forward into limiting life strategies, that distort and sometimes destroy relationships with our friends and family.

They offer hope and guidance for the adjustment and repair of these strategies, and hope for expanded opportunities for flourishing relationships and life with friends, family, neighbors and God.

I bought copies for friends and family.

[Andrew M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cyd and Geoff Holsclaw have given pastors, lay leaders and Christians of all walks and experiences something special: a well researched, informative, and accessible guide to neuroscience and attachment theory and how these apply to our Christian life following the Good Shepherd. I have already offered it to the church I pastor as recommended reading for our current sermon series as it is very instructive for understanding some of what keeps us from being able to cultivate a shared life together. Worth your time.

[Lianna Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book fascinating! I did not particularly find myself among the models provided. Perhaps I dwell in the pasture. Or perhaps I have other areas not covered in this book that impact my attachment to God. Something worth pondering. I do find that this book is helpful for placing or thinking about some others in my life—and gives me the ability to think graciously about their behaviors. I am grateful for that! All in all, I am coming away with a very positive impression of this book.

[Adam Cheney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book and the new terminology it introduces! The authors use attachment theory, (itself a new field of study) and apply it to theology. The mixture of theology and neuroscience is groundbreaking work and so needed in the Church.

[Kathleen Moy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated the way the author describes the different attachment theories and how they can play out, but the scriptural connections often felt to me at least too self seeking (that scripture is all about me) and making the scripture fit into the theory.

[Esther · Rating 5 out of 5]

I needed this! I’ll definitely reread this and come back to the spiritual practices in the last chapter.

[Carol Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a deep and beautiful book. I suggest everyone read it. :)

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25⭐️

[Melissa Hudecz · Rating 2 out of 5]

very religious.

[Bob Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Attachment theory without the gobbledygook.

[Jodie Pine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend this one! It is both foundational and transformational in the intersection of spirituality, neuroscience, attachment theory, and spiritual formation. The writing and layout of the book are clear and engaging. I know I will be coming back to it for reference and for referring to others.