Attachment Repair
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We enter the world totally dependent on our relationships with the adults who care for us. Will someone come when I need help? Is it okay to connect with other people? Am I worthy of care? Our relationships during our early years answer these questions. They set the patterns for how we care for ourselves and communicate our needs to others. These patterns are usually called attachment styles. They are formed in the hundreds of thousands of moments that a caregiver responds to a child’s needs for safety, play, warmth, comfort, food, rest, choices, correction, and delight.
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Many challenging situations can affect attachment—especially the caregiver’s own childhood relationships. The good news is that the brain is flexible! Our brains can form new capacity to relate with repeated, gentle exposure to new ways of being with self and others. Through this process, we can experience lasting positive change.
Attachment repair may be right for you if you want to release old messages from childhood relationships and experience deeper connection and security. Attachment repair is especially important for parents who want to help their children heal from “hard places” (Dr. Karyn Purvis). In parent/child relationships, the parent is an essential ingredient for change. Therapy becomes a place for both parent and child to practice new relationship skills in a secure, nurturing environment. At Riverbend Integrative Trauma Treatment, we use evidence-based frameworks to support these changes.