Offering fresh and provocative insights on the practice of couple and family therapy, this unique volume shows how attachment theory can inform, enhance, and guide interventions for a wide range of relationship problems and clinical issues.

Offering fresh and provocative insights on the practice of couple and family therapy, this volume shows how attachment theory can inform, enhance and guide interventions for a wide range of relationship problems and clinical issues. Chapters from leading attachment researchers and family therapists integrate the literature from both fields to provide a multifaceted perspective on the role of attachment in distressed and satisfying relationships. Illustrated with evocative clinical material, the book presents research-based therapy models for embattled couples, families struggling with parent-child conflict and adolescent problems, and adoptive and foster families. Also discussed are: ways to support stronger mother-infant attachment; attachment-oriented interventions for couples facing specific clinical problems, including depression, PTSD, and chronic pain; and applications for same-sex couples.

Part I: Relevance of Attachment Theory for Clinical Practice. Johnson, Introduction to Attachment: A Therapist's Guide to Primary Relationships and their Renewal. Schachner, Shaver, Mikulincer, Adult Attachment Theory, Psychodynamics, and Couple Relationships: An Overview. Hazan, The Essential Nature of Couple Relationships. Scharfe, Stability and Change of Attachment Representations from Cradle to Grave. Carlson, Harwood, Alternate Pathways to Competence: Culture and Early Attachment Relationships. Part II: Models of Clinical Intervention. Johnson, Attachment Theory: A Guide for Couple Therapy. Davila, Attachment Processes in Couple Therapy: Informing Behavioral Models. Kobak, Mandelbaum, Caring for the Caregiver: An Attachment Approach to Assessment and Treatment of Child Problems. Levy, Orlans, Creating and Repairing Attachments in Biological, Foster, and Adoptive Families. Diamond, Stern, Attachment-Based Family Therapy for Depressed Adolescents: Repairing Attachment Failures. Part III: Using an Attachment Perspective in Interventions with Particular Populations. Cohen, Muir, Lojkasek, The First Couple: Using Watch, Wait, and Wonder to Change Troubled Infant-Mother Relationships. Moretti, Holland, The Journey of Adolescence: Transitions in Self within the Context of Attachment Relationships. Cobb, Bradbury, Implications of Adult Attachment for Preventing Adverse Marital Outcomes. Bradley, Palmer, Attachment in Later Life: Implications for Intervention with Older Adults. Josephson, Using Attachment-Based Intervention with Same-Sex Couples. Part IV: Specific Attachment Interventions for Particular Problems. Whiffen, Looking Outward Together: Adult Attachment and Childbearing Depression. Alexander, Understanding the Effects of Child Sexual Abuse History on Current Couple Relationships: An Attachment Perspective. Mikail, Attachment and the Experience of Chronic Pain: A Couples Perspective. Part V: Conclusion. Whiffen, What Attachment Theory Can Offer Marital and Family Therapists.