Attachment: 60 Trauma-Informed Assessment and Treatment Interventions Across the Lifespan

by Christina Reese

In a society that values independence, self-preservation and individualistic thinking, we are missing the key to fulfillment: Connection through Attachment.

Simply, attachment is the way that we connect to each other. Without attachment, people feel alone to deal with challenges they face, which leads to distress, dysfunction and mental health disorders. It is possible to repair dysfunctional attachment, but first it is necessary to recognize attachment style, unhealthy relationship patterns, and the impact they are having.

Improve your client’s relationships by teaching them strategies to feel more connected, reestablish trust, and restore positive emotions. Dr. Christina Reese, a recognized attachment and trauma professional, has created a comprehensive guide that explains attachment over a lifetime, and offers trauma-informed approaches to treat attachment at any age.

Clinical examples, handouts and worksheets to use with clients of all ages
Recognize attachment styles
Identify key symptoms of attachment difficulties and their inception
Interventions that repair attachment traumas to heal stress, shame, and anxiety
Techniques to help clients improve their relationships (children, parents, friends, and significant others)

Genres: Psychology, Counselling, Mental Health, Relationships, Nonfiction, Self Help, Social Work

181 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 23, 2018

Reviews

[LMS · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first picked up this book when I was working in Ukraine. It baffled me, those little kids that would come up to me and crawl into my lap, and cling to me, just needing a little bit of warmth and love, and who would prefer me - even though they’d known me for only a couple of days, and even though I could barely speak their language. What was going on in their minds, that they could get attached so quickly to a stranger? I had mostly known securely attached kids who could take or leave strangers, and were only preferential to their parents. So I picked up this book hoping to understand a little more what was going on, and also what to do.

Attachment theory is a developing field. This book began with a basic explanation of the current theories of attachment styles, which I confess I still don’t fully understand. It covered some case studies of various people - children and adults - who had attachment issues, and how they worked through them.

The real gem of the book though was the worksheets. They are intended for “clients” to fill out on their own, but contain helpful questions even for conversations to get a person thinking and examining their subconscious actions. There were some great ones to ask a child struggling with their relationship with neglectful parents - honestly just great stuff to open up a conversation and start getting into the bones of what’s going on. Lots for me to think about and probably refer back to as another tool in the toolbox of ministering.

[Nicole Bills · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent guide to assessing possible attachment wounds in clients (of all ages) with some guidance in treatment interventions. Future readers should keep in mind this is just a guide, useful to those in mental health. I think that it would also be useful for parents looking to adopt or foster.

[Matthew Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a decent introduction to attachment theory in general, but the interventions provided are overly specific and exceedingly general. I'm not sure there are very many situations where I would use most of them instead of just asking open questions. Perhaps they're decent for inspiring ideas for where to probe.

It's also worth noting that she may have confused bipolar with borderline and is somewhat dismissive of people dealing with it.

[Andrea Kaplan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I probably learned about attachment but I had to skim over the authors judgmental attitudes

[Ash · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing resource, something to keep coming back to throughout my lifetime.

[Samantha Pifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of great info. Wish I'd learned some of this much earlier in life.