Trauma and the Avoidant Client: Attachment-Based Strategies for Healing

Book excerpt: Winner, 2011 Written Media Award, International Society for Study of Trauma & Dissociation. How to effectively engage traumatized clients, who avoid attachment, closeness, and painful feelings. A large segment of the therapy population consist of those who are in denial or retreat from their traumatic experiences. Here, drawing on attachment-based research, the author provides clinical techniques, specific intervention strategies, and practical advice for successfully addressing the often intractable issues of trauma. Trauma and the Avoidant Client will enhance the skills of all mental health practitioners and trauma workers, and will serve as a valuable, useful resource to facilitate change and progress in psychotherapy.