Attachment-Focused Family Therapy Workbook

by Daniel A. Hughes

A practical workbook companion to Attachment-Focused Family Therapy , the best-selling text that brought attachment into the realm of family therapy. Daniel A. Hughes, a leading practitioner in his field, specializes in an attachment-oriented approach to family therapy. Applying his model to children and families with a range of psychological problems, this book distills just the clinical strategies, offering practitioners a host of practical exercises and interventions on the core skills of his treatment program.

Genres: Social Work, Psychology, Counselling

272 pages, Paperback

First published March 14, 2011

Reviews

[Jonathan Case · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resource for therapists. An impressive amount of example dialogue and really clearly articulated ideas.

[Wanda Boyer M.C., Ph.D., RCC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Attachment - Focused Family Therapy (AFFT):Workbook by Daniel A. Hughes is a resource, workbook, and reminder of the strength and security of attachment we can offer a child through the “inter subjective experience of knowing a good person who takes delight in [them] and perceives [their] strengths, courage, persistence, and worth” ( Hughes, 2011, p. 233). In secure attachments children initially will turn to and return to a parent as a consistent, and secure base after exploring their physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and spiritual world. To nurture safety for the parents, child, and the family AFFT practitioners provide foundational skills to help the family “become engaged with each other in reciprocal, attuned, affective, and reflective interactions” (Hughes, 2011, p. 7) so that the child can become interdependent and rely on their “attachment figure while also learning to rely on their own developing skills” (Hughes, 2011, p. 7). The attachment -focused skills include promoting safety, communication of strengths and needs, emotion regulation, structure to conversations using PACE, gently showing signs of affection, how to comfort self and others, in distress, discipline self and others, praise to value others, and repair relationships (Hughes, 2011, p. 164). The intersubjective experience is fostered when the attachment -focused interventions and skills promote a meeting of minds and complimentary of “affect regulation (matching emotional expression and tone to convey emotional attunement), joint attention (being aware of the same content, events), and complimentary intentions (having the same goals for their interactions together). Affective-reflective (A-R) dialogue supports and integrates the core components of intersubjective experience by engaging the “emotional meaning of an event and its affective expression as well as cognitive understanding of the event and its place within reflective awareness” (Hughes, 2011, p. 47) of the child, parent, family, and therapist. There is a story-like narrative to the A-R dialogue where the therapist moves the conversation from light to more stressful event discussions with transitions to link the story-line and an emphasis on follow-lead-follow orientation to include child and parents/caregivers. When events are not congruently conveyed verbally and nonverbally or the parent or child is not engaged the therapist is alert, will consider the impact and will bring the challenging behavior to the attention of the members using PACE. Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, and Empathy. I recommend reading ‘this as a great reminder of why we value counseling, our clients, and this caring profession. Using intersubjective communication, A-R dialogue and PACE practices “each person is valued, of interest, understood, and accepted” (Hughes, 2011, p. 142).

[Robin Collier-Allard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a practical workbook built around attachment-oriented family therapy. It gives therapists concrete exercises and interventions while staying rooted in the heart of the work, connection, safety, repair, and emotional attunement. I appreciate that it does not just explain the model. It helps you apply it in the room

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for my final placement and found it quite informing and helpful. I hope to continue referring to this throughout my career.