Working with Attachment in Couples Therapy: A Four-Step Model for Clinical Practice

Through an exploration of extensive case studies, this book demonstrates how the discovery and examination of original childhood attachment wounds is crucial to couples therapy.

As many as half of all mental health referrals involve interpersonal issues and these very often relate to marital problems. Yet, after a half a century of couples therapy, we still lack a widely accepted treatment model for couples and there are relatively few training programs or graduate courses dedicated to the field. Why does an effective general approach to marital therapy remain so elusive? Working with Attachment in Couples Therapy: A Four-Step Model for Clinical Practice presents a series of in-depth case studies, which illustrate the seeking of the primary wound for each participant as it unfolds session by session and traces improvement in each couple while exploring past injuries.

This book represents essential reading for any mental health professional working with couples, as well as those in training.

Jim Donovan, PhD, is Associate Professor of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, Emeritus Director of Behavioural Health Training, Atrius Health, MA, and author of Short-Term Object Relations Couples Therapy: The Five-Step Model (Routledge, 2003).