Attachment-based therapy (ABT) is a structured, evidence-informed approach that helps individuals understand their relational patterns, heal past wounds, and build secure, empowered connections. Below is a framework of how therapy typically unfolds, giving you a clear sense of what to expect.

1. Initial Phase – Assessment & Safety Building

The first phase focuses on creating a safe, supportive space. A strong therapeutic relationship becomes your secure base, helping you feel understood and validated. During this phase, we:

·      Explore your early relationships and current struggles to understand how your attachment patterns show up in your life.

·      Identify your attachment style (anxious, avoidant, disorganized) and how it affects relationships, work, and daily habits.

·      Set collaborative goals for therapy, such as increasing emotional security, reducing anxiety, and building confidence and healthier boundaries.

2. Middle Phase – Uncovering & Reworking Patterns

Once safety is established, we explore deeper patterns:

·      Safely revisit past wounds, such as childhood experiences or emotional betrayals, to understand their ongoing impact.

·      Make unconscious patterns conscious—recognizing behaviors like people-pleasing, withdrawal, or fear of rejection.

·      Use the therapy relationship as a corrective emotional experience, helping you practice secure, attuned connection.

·     Develop practical skills, including: Naming emotions without shame, Setting boundaries and asserting needs, Emotional regulation techniques (grounding, self-soothing), Healthy communication strategies

3. Integration Phase – Building Security & Autonomy

This phase focuses on applying new skills and building lasting change:

·      Strengthen your internal sense of safety and trust, reducing reliance on old survival strategies.

·      Practice new relational patterns in everyday life—work, family, dating—and reflect on successes and challenges in session.

·      Reshape your self-concept, moving from feeling “broken” to feeling capable, worthy, and secure.

·      Generalize these skills to other areas of life, including career, habits, and personal growth.

4. Ending Phase – Consolidation & Future Planning

The final phase ensures you can maintain progress independently:

·      Review your growth and how attachment patterns have shifted.

·      Equip yourself with tools to handle future triggers and relational challenges.

·      Celebrate your progress and newfound emotional freedom.

This approach balances insight (understanding old wounds), experience (corrective attachment within therapy), and practice (applying new skills in daily life). By following this structured framework, you gain not only awareness but also practical tools to feel secure, confident, and empowered in your relationships and within yourself.