Raising Securely Attached Kids: Using Connection-Focused Parenting to Create Confidence, Empathy and Resilience (Attachment Nerd)

A USA TODAY BESTSELLER | Named Forbes’ 50 Most Influential Books
Winner of the Child Psychology Award for Literary Excellence


“A comprehensive roadmap for parents who want to raise securely attached, emotionally healthy children. A parenting must-read.” —Alyssa Blask Campbell, M.Ed., author of Tiny Humans, Big Emotions


Build a lifelong foundation of connection, trust, confidence, and resilience with an evidence-based approach to secure attachment.


Raising Securely Attached Kids is a practical parenting book that translates attachment science into accessible strategies for raising emotionally healthy children. Licensed therapist and attachment expert Eli Harwood shows parents and caregivers how connection-focused parenting can strengthen relationships, encourage open communication, and help children develop empathy, confidence, resilience, and the ability to form healthy relationships.

Covering every stage from newborns through adulthood, this compassionate guide helps you:

• BREAK UNHEALTHY CYCLES: Recognize patterns from your own childhood and choose a more connected way of parenting.
• BECOME A SECURE BASE: Work through attachment wounds so you can respond with greater calm, consistency, and emotional awareness.
• CHOOSE CONNECTION OVER CONTROL: Build a secure attachment relationship while maintaining clear, healthy boundaries.
• STRENGTHEN TRUST: Use practical tools and ready-to-use scripts to navigate everyday parenting challenges.
• SUPPORT EMOTIONAL HEALTH: Help children develop confidence, empathy, resilience, and strong relationship skills.
• REPAIR AND RECONNECT: Learn why mistakes do not define your relationship—and why it is never too late to create a stronger bond.

Hopeful, relatable, and grounded in attachment research, Raising Securely Attached Kids offers guidance without shame or blame. It is an essential resource for parents, caregivers, educators, and anyone who wants to nurture confident, capable, and caring kids.


Create the secure, lasting connection your child can carry into every stage of life.


“Eli Harwood teaches the essentials of attachment, which can help parents 'show up' in ways that enable our children to become securely attached to us.” —Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., New York Times bestselling co-author of The Whole-Brain Child


“Eli Harwood brings infectious-fun energy, vulnerability, and fresh perspectives without shaming or blaming. Not only is Raising Securely Attached Kids a practical and actionable guide, it’s grounded in science and entertaining to read.” —Hilary Swank, actress, storyteller, mom of twins

ELI HARWOOD, MA, LPC is a licensed therapist, best-selling author, and highly sought-after educator who has more than 17 years of experience helping people process relational traumas and develop secure connections with their children. She is on a mission to help make the world a better place, one relationship at a time. In addition to her clinical work, Harwood also offers online courses and in-person retreats to help individuals better understand their attachment styles and build stronger bonds. She has also served as a faculty member at The Denver Family Institute and is the author of Securely Attached. Eli has three children, one husband, two cats, and an extraordinary number of plants. Learn more about her work at AttachmentNerd.com.