Handbook of Attachment-Based Interventions

“This book will be an excellent addition to the libraries of clinicians who treat children and families. It does a good job of describing 21 different attachment-based interventions and combines the theory of John Bowlby with practical ideas to increase attachment security, especially with victims of trauma. These interventions can be used from infancy through older adolescence.”

—Doody's Review Service


“Attachment theory has longstanding roots in clinical intervention, which are deepened and extended with this remarkable volume. In well-written profiles of 21 attachment-based interventions, readers are introduced to the conceptual foundations, therapeutic strategies, training procedures, and outcome evaluations of some of the foremost clinical applications of attachment theory. This is an essential resource for clinicians, researchers, and students interested in parent–child attachment, relationship-based interventions, and early mental health. I learned a lot from it.”

—Ross A. Thompson, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, University of California, Davis


“Howard Steele and Miriam Steele have made a unique contribution to the field of attachment with their emphasis on intervention approaches that make a difference. The volume improves the reader's understanding of ways to help repair attachment problems using interventions grounded in strong theory and empirical research. The editors' careful work has resulted in a comprehensive review that will enhance clinical understanding of evidence-based practice in this area. This book will be of great interest to clinicians and researchers alike, as well as graduate students studying both clinical and research approaches to attachment.”

—Joy D. Osofsky, PhD, Paul J. Ramsay Chair, Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center


“Unique, much needed, and valuable. Howard and Miriam Steele have gathered in one place, from around the globe, the most prominent evidence-based intervention programs across the life cycle that build on attachment theory. Key contributors to the respective approaches succinctly summarize their theoretical foundations, the pragmatics of intervention, research support, and issues in dissemination. This is the essential guidebook for students and professionals who want to develop a better understanding of these models, and a surefire classroom text for courses related to attachment or early intervention.”

—Jay Lebow, PhD, ABPP, LMFT, Senior Scholar and Clinical Professor, The Family Institute at Northwestern University


“An extremely valuable handbook for both attachment novices and experts. This book provides an overview of the rich variety of attachment-based interventions, including specific information about their theoretical, methodological, and empirical bases, all in one volume. Clinical practitioners can search for the programs that are best tailored to the needs of the children, adolescents, or even adults that they treat.”

—Gottfried Spangler, PhD, Department of Psychology, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany


“This volume offers a thoughtful and thorough presentation of attachment-inspired and attachment-derived interventions across a range of ages, from infancy to adulthood. The editors have done a superb job and have made an important contribution to the legacy of Bowlby and Ainsworth.”

—Charles H. Zeanah, Jr., MD, Mary Peters Sellars-Polchow Chair in Psychiatry and Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, Tulane University School of Medicine