Identifying Core Attachment Injuries is used in Attachment-Based Family Therapy to support adolescent attachment repair and family reconnection. The therapist applies it collaboratively, protects pacing and consent, and keeps the clinical focus on attachment rupture rather than on technique for its own sake.
Step-by-step guide
- Establish consent, safety and the shared clinical focus.
- Introduce identifying core attachment injuries in simple language connected to the current session target.
- Track the client’s emotional, bodily and relational response step by step.
- Slow down when activation, shame, conflict or dissociation rises too quickly.
- Help the client notice what changes and what remains unfinished.
- Integrate the result into the next clinical task or between-session observation.
When to use
- When adolescent attachment repair and family reconnection is clinically relevant.
- When the client can stay oriented enough to work with the target safely.
- When a structured intervention is more useful than general supportive conversation.
Key phrases
Let us slow this down and work with identifying core attachment injuries one step at a time.
Follow-up questions
What changes when we stay with the most important part of this, without rushing?
Alternative phrasings
We can pause if this becomes too much.
Notice what your body and emotions are doing right now.
What would make this safer or clearer to bring into the work?
Warnings
- ⚠️ Do not use the technique without enough safety, consent and pacing.
- ⚠️ Do not force disclosure, insight, memory access or repair before the client is ready.
- ⚠️ Stop or simplify the intervention when the client loses orientation or regulation.
Source: ABFT / Guy Diamond and Gary Diamond
Materials are informational and educational and summarize publicly available scientific sources. They are not medical or psychological advice, are not intended for self-diagnosis or self-treatment, and do not replace consultation with a qualified professional.