Attachment theory — developed by John Bowlby — proposes that humans are biologically primed to seek proximity to caregivers for safety and comfort. The quality of early attachment experiences shapes internal working models — beliefs about the self and others in relationships — that influence relational functioning throughout life (Bowlby, 1988).
The main insecure attachment styles and their adult relational patterns:
Insecure attachment may be affecting your relationships when you notice:
Adult attachment style is significantly associated with relationship satisfaction, mental health outcomes, and parenting behaviour (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2016).
Attachment patterns are deeply embedded — they were formed in early childhood as adaptive responses to the relational environment and operate largely automatically in adult relationships. They cannot be changed by insight alone — they require new relational experiences (Siegel, 2020).
The therapeutic relationship itself is one of the most powerful vehicles for change — providing a secure base from which to explore attachment history and develop new, more flexible relational patterns.
Attachment-informed therapy produces significant improvements in attachment security, mental health, and relationship satisfaction (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2016).
Our psychologists use attachment-informed approaches:
The most extensively researched attachment-informed couples therapy. EFT identifies attachment needs and fears driving negative relationship cycles and restructures emotional responses to create greater security (Johnson, 2004). Produces lasting improvements in attachment security and relationship satisfaction.
Addresses the early maladaptive schemas — Abandonment, Mistrust, Emotional Deprivation, Defectiveness — that develop from insecure attachment experiences in childhood. Schema Therapy’s limited reparenting model uses the therapeutic relationship explicitly as a healing experience (Young et al., 2003).
Individual therapy using an attachment framework to explore relational history, identify attachment patterns, and develop earned security. The therapeutic relationship provides a secure base for this exploration. Draws on psychodynamic, relational, and trauma-informed approaches.
Where insecure attachment is rooted in early trauma or adverse childhood experiences, EMDR can process the traumatic memories underlying attachment difficulties, reducing their ongoing influence on adult relational patterns (Mosquera et al., 2014).
Attachment work is inherently relational — the therapeutic relationship itself is one of the most important therapeutic tools.
Your first appointment explores your relational history, your current relationship patterns, and what you most want to change.
Attachment work is typically longer-term — 20 or more sessions. Meaningful changes in deeply held relational patterns take time. Progress is gradual and real.
We see individuals and couples for attachment-focused work.
We offer appointments in-clinic at our Mooroolbark, Wheelers Hill, Reservoir, and Melbourne CBD locations, as well as Telehealth sessions from anywhere in Australia.
WorkCover, NDIS or TAC approved? YOU PAY NOTHING.
If your claim has been approved, we bill your funder directly. Zero out-of-pocket cost — no gap, no upfront payment, nothing.
The patterns that developed in your earliest relationships can change. Healing is possible.
Our psychologists are trained in a wide range of evidence-based approaches across many presentations. Browse our full directory of conditions and therapies we work with.
Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base: Clinical applications of attachment theory. Routledge.
Johnson, S. M. (2004). The practice of emotionally focused couples therapy: Creating connection (2nd ed.). Brunner-Routledge.
Mikulincer, M., & Shaver, P. R. (2016). Attachment in adulthood: Structure, dynamics, and change (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.
Mosquera, D., Leeds, A. M., & Gonzalez, A. (2014). Early attachment, structural dissociation, and complex PTSD in EMDR. Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, 8(4), 200–210. https://doi.org/10.1891/1933-3196.8.4.200
Siegel, D. J. (2020). The developing mind: How relationships and the brain interact to shape who we are (3rd ed.). Guilford Press.
Young, J. E., Klosko, J. S., & Weishaar, M. E. (2003). Schema therapy: A practitioner’s guide. Guilford Press.
