The Attachment Therapy Group

3000 Citrus Circle #235

Walnut Creek, CA 94598                 Office phone: 925 979-9992

 
 

• Are you struggling with an angry child?


• Are you fighting with your spouse about your kids?


• Do you wish that life was easier?


• Are you at a loss about how to get along in your family?


You’re not alone, and we can help.


Our approach to therapy is rooted in John Bowlby's Attachment Theory, which emphasizes the importance of initial, primary relationships.


Research suggests that relationships that develop early in life shape the biochemical development of the brain. How parents interact with their child influences and shapes the developing brain structure and, consequently, the child's emotions, thoughts, behaviors, sense of self, and view of others.


This process is believed to occur through "mirror neurons" in the brain. The therapy that we provide to families incorporates methods that are intended to activate these neurons and increase attunement. A child whose parent is attuned, experiences "a felt sense" of being known by the parent, thereby enhancing a secure self and a secure relationship.


By encouraging parents to work with us as co-therapists, we hope to:

    • Increase playful, joyful parent-child interactions

    • Improve the child's capacity to self-soothe and self-regulate

    • Make sense of stressful or traumatic life experiences and improve coping skills

    • Nurture the ability to trust and strengthen the emotional bond between parent and child and

    • Create a foundation for developing and maintaining self-respect and respect for others.

"We bring our relational inheritance with us and nowhere do we bring it more forcibly than into our parenting. And a lot of people don't realize this. When they think that parenting comes naturally, they're correct. It does come naturally, but it comes naturally the way you learned it. It doesn't necessarily come naturally to do it differently."


Roy Muir

"When the Bough Breaks"

Frontline 1995