An Introduction to Attachment-Based Family Therapy

Guy Diamond

Most of us have faced intense parent-adolescent conflict in sessions: no one listens, everyone blames, and some walk out. Or we’ve met adolescents who are silent, withdrawn, and indifferent. Often these teens struggle with trauma, depression, and/or suicide. This workshop will demonstrate how in the first session of attachment-based family therapy, therapists can move this unproductive conversation from anger and rejection to longing and love. You’ll explore how to:

• Amplify and use vulnerable emotions to identify underlining relationship disappointments and injustices that often drive these relational hostilities
• Use an adolescent development framework to help parents re-envision their roles and help adolescents take more responsibility for mature behavior
• Create a therapeutic narrative that focuses the conversation on love and trust to soften the emotional tone and get agreement from all family members to work on improving the relationship

Guy Diamond, PhD, is an associate professor at Drexel University where he directs the Couple and Family Therapy PhD program. He’s the primary developer of attachment-based family therapy and has published over 80 papers on family therapy outcome and process research.