Attachment-Based Family Therapy
Attachment-Based Family Therapy
Healing Relational Wounds Within The Family System at The Willow Space – Paoli, PA
At The Willow Space for Trauma Treatment, we provide specialized care for families healing from attachment ruptures—relational wounds formed within the parent to child relationship. These experiences often shape how we see ourselves, connect with others, and feel safe in relationships.
What Is Attachment Based Family Therapy?
Attachment-Based Family Therapy (ABFT) is a family based therapy model derived from attachment theory. Through the use of emotional attunement, relational repair, and emotionally focused skills, ABFT works to re-establish secure attachment bonding between parent and child. ABFT individual sessions provides space for the parent to learn how to empathically and emotionally support the unmet needs of the adolescent while the adolescent works to articulate their emotional needs and obstacles to trusting the caregiver. ABFT joint sessions focus on relational repair as the parent empathizes and validates the adolescent's communication of emotional ruptures to the caregiver. This relational repair leads to increased trust, autonomy, communication, and secure attachment within the relationship.
Common origins of attachment trauma within the caregiving relationship include:
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Trauma-related relational ruptures, including abuse incidents, foster care placement instability, or peer challenges
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Unpredictable or unsafe caregiving environments, including parental unavailability, misattunement, or criticism
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Adolescent depression, anxiety, and anger, including child not wanting to stress parent out due to feeling like a burden
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Family conflict and communication breakdowns, including cultural differences
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Social withdrawal or emotional disengagement from peers and caregivers, including avoidance of questions, reassuring parent that everything is "fine", and shutting down when directly asked about feelings
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Identity-related stress within the family dynamic, including those who may be questioning aspects of identity
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Transitions, losses, or significant family stressors, including divorce, high conflict houses, adoption, or abrupt transitions
How Ruptures Can Show Up in Relationships
Unresolved relational ruptures may affect:
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Emotional withdrawal
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Child pulls back or avoids conversations with parent
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Increased conflict
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Arguments become the default communication method
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Avoidance of vulnerability
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Parent and child stay surface level with communication, avoiding emotional depth and creating a culture of silence​
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Misattuned communication
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Family communication relies on sarcasm, shutting down or conflict as an effort to avoid deeper emotional topics​
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Parental Splitting
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During emotionally charged moments, one parent disengages with child while the other parent attempts to increase ​control over the child
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Our Treatment Approach
We use a combination of trauma-informed, evidence-based therapies to help clients process and repair attachment trauma in a safe, supportive environment.
EMDR Therapy: Reprocesses painful relational memories and shifts negative beliefs tied to relational experiences.
IFS-Informed EMDR: Combines EMDR with Internal Family Systems (IFS) to explore and heal the “parts” of self shaped by relational ruptures and wounding within a relationship.
Attachment-Repair Models: Relational, experiential interventions designed to rebuild internal and external safety, emotional connection, and trust. The Willow Space uses Attachment-Based Family Therapy for rebuilding the relationship between parent and child.