Attachment Processes in Couple and Family Therapy [Hardcover]

With contributions from leading clinicians and researchers, this book presents couple and family therapy models that use attachment theory as the basis for new clinical understandings. Chapters provide compelling insights on the nature of interactions between adult partners and between parents and children, and the role of attachment in distressed and satisfying relationships. The book describes a range of ways that attachment-oriented interventions can help resolve marital conflict and difficult family transitions.

For decades, the family therapy field seemed addicted to the idea that families and couples `operate like machines. Fortunately, attachment theory has come on the scene of late to give couple and family therapists a secure conceptual base for understanding what is fundamental to close, committed relationships. Johnson and Whiffen's outstanding new book organizes the best of what is known about attachment theory and family therapy, and will serve as a springboard for creative new developments in this important area for a long time to come. --Alan S. Gurman, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin Medical School

Johnson and Whiffen should be commended for providing a remarkable resource for couple and family therapists and researchers alike. This book brings together a stellar set of contributions offering a unique blend of basic scholarship and creative application. The result is essential reading for graduate students and a 'must-have' handbook for clinicians of all theoretical persuasions. Readers will find a theoretical framework for the field of couple and family therapy that is comprehensive, data-based, and integrative. I enthusiastically recommend this volume to anyone interested in couple and family functioning or strategies of intervention. --Steven R. H. Beach, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Georgia

This impressive volume provides a theory-rich account of human attachment bonds al