The Routledge Handbook of Attachment: Implications and Interventions offers an introduction to therapies produced as a result of the popularity of attachment studies. These therapies can be divided into two categories: those that are 'attachment-based', in that they use evidence-based attachment assessments in their development, or 'attachment-informed', in that the theories of attachment have been integrated into the practice of existing schools of therapy.

The book reviews the field and provides a range of interventions for children, adults and parents, beginning with a detailed review of both evidence-base and evidence-informed interventions including individual psychotherapy, family therapy and parenting. The remaining chapters provide accounts, from the practitioner's perspective, of interventions that address issues of attachment from the level of one-to-one therapy, family and social work to social interventions involving courts and Care Proceedings, illustrated with examples from day-to-day practice.

Discussing how an understanding of formal assessments of attachment can be used to inform therapeutic, social and legal interventions to assist and protect children, The Routledge Handbook of Attachment: Implications and Interventions is an indispensable guide for clinical psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers working with children and families, clinicians in training and students.

About the Author
Paul Holmes is a child and adolescent psychiatrist who also trained as an adult psychotherapist. He worked in community child and adolescent mental health teams for many years, and with specialist services for fostered and adopted children. He has increasingly applied his long-standing interest in attachment theory to his work in providing expert psychiatric opinions to the British courts in child care proceedings. Steve Farnfield is a Senior Lecturer and established the MSc in Attachment Studies at the University of Roehampton, UK. He is a social worker and play therapist with many years' experience and a licensed trainer for the Dynamic Maturational Model of Attachment Infant CARE-Index, Preschool Assessment of Attachment and Adult Attachment Interview developed by Patricia Crittenden.

Reviews

'Dr Paul Holmes was Family Futures' first child and adolescent psychiatrist and helped support its inception in a climate where attachment was not widely recognised as relevant to thinking about how to heal traumatised children. It feels appropriate, therefore, that it is Dr Holmes who has edited such a seminal trilogy about the significance of attachment theory to assessment and treatment.

The gaze, tender touch and smell of a parent eases one's way in the world and helps us find ways to manage the stress of life. When that gaze, touch and smell is replaced by fear one's very basic trust in the world is damaged. The implications of this are huge and infiltrate all areas of our development and our relationships with ourselves and others. The interventions to help when this instinctive bond is ruptured are still evolving as our understanding grows. This book is an excellent guide to the most up to date thinking on attachment and some of the appropriate interventions. It is refreshing and inspiring to read so many different professionals reflect on how they have integrated this thinking into their practice, and a sign of the huge strides that have been made in the last twenty years.' - Jay Vaughan, Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapist and Dramatherapist and Co-Founder of Family Futures, UK

Book Information
ISBN 9780415706124
Author Paul Holmes
Format Paperback
Page Count 190
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 325g