Corrective attachment episodes in attachment-based family therapy: the power of enactment

Tsvieli, Noa; Lifshitz, Chen; Diamond, Gary M.

doi:10.1080/10503307.2021.1913295

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Soothing such parents' fears and promoting their RF may be critical to getting them to sign on to the treatment's relational goals. While not the focus of this study, earlier research on ABFT found that certain relational and attachment‐focused interventions, such as empathy and concern for parents, and relational reframes, led to positive shifts in parents' perceptions of their adolescent over the course of parents' individual preparatory sessions with the therapist (Moran & Diamond, 2008). Empathy and concern for parents may help to soothe parents' anxiety, allowing them to more easily engage in mentalizing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…Parental RF refers to “the capacity of the parent to envision his or her child as being motivated by internal mental states such as feelings, wishes, and desires, and to be able to reflect on his or her own internal mental experiences and how they are shaped and changed by interactions with the child” (Luyten et al, 2017, p. 174). As parents become more reflective, and are increasingly able to envision and connect with their young adult's pain, vulnerability and longings, they become more empathic toward their young adult, and feelings of regret surface (Moran & Diamond, 2008). Their natural parenting instinct to reach out to understand and sooth their young adult, and better meet their young adult's needs, are activated (Tsvieli et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As parents become more reflective, and are increasingly able to envision and connect with their young adult's pain, vulnerability and longings, they become more empathic toward their young adult, and feelings of regret surface (Moran & Diamond, 2008). Their natural parenting instinct to reach out to understand and sooth their young adult, and better meet their young adult's needs, are activated (Tsvieli et al, 2021). Therefore, increases in parental RF over the course of individual sessions with the therapist are thought to precede and promote parents' agreement to reach out to hear and validate their young adult's experience in subsequent conjoint attachment sessions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Parents' reflective functioning and their agreement on treatment goals in attachment‐based family therapy for sexual and gender minority young adults and their nonaccepting parents

Strifler

Zisenwine

Diamond

2022

J Marital Family Therapy

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This study examined the trajectories of parents' reflective functioning over the course of individual preparatory sessions with the therapist in attachment-based family therapy (ABFT) for Israeli sexual minority young adults and their nonaccepting parents, and whether such reflective functioning was associated with parents' agreement on the goals for subsequent conjoint corrective attachment sessions. Three parents with good agreement on treatment goals were compared to three parents with poor agreement on treatment goals. Parents' in-session reflectivity regarding their child's experience of nonacceptance, and regarding the quality of their relationship with their child, was observationally measured at the session level. Reflective functioning increased over time among those parents who reported good agreement with the treatment goals. There were no changes in parents' reflective functioning in the poor agreement group. Findings suggest the potential importance of

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Parents' reflective functioning and their agreement on treatment goals in attachment‐based family therapy for sexual and gender minority young adults and their nonaccepting parents

Strifler

Zisenwine

Diamond

2022

J Marital Family Therapy

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“…Rather than an adolescent's feelings of burdensomeness being solely a cognitive distortion without data to back up the thought (Van Orden et al, 2006), there is evidence that adolescents may be emotionally attuned enough to accurately understand “valid” reasons why their parents may view them as a burden (i.e., parental stress about money/transportation , Hill et al, 2019; family rejection of sexual‐ or gender‐identities , Grossman et al, 2016; Hunt et al, 2020). Specifically exploring, deepening, and helping the adolescent relay these lived experiences of feeling like a burden to their parents (and helping their parents hear their child's pain and soothe them) really gets to heart of what (we believe) family‐ and systemic‐based therapy is: creating space for an facilitating corrective attachment experiences (Tsvieli et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Family relationships and the interpersonal theory of suicide in a clinically suicidal sample of adolescents

Hunt

Ewing

Weiler

et al. 2021

J Marital Family Therapy

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In a sample of suicidal adolescents (N = 117), we sought to identify how adolescents' attachment to their parents related to a key mechanism of suicide from the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (IPTS). We tested both attachment-anxiety and attachment-avoidance, to both mother-and father-figures as correlates of the IPTS construct, perceived burdensomeness (PB). In addition, we tested PB as a mediator between these attachment variables and adolescent suicide ideation in a path analysis.Our path analysis indicated both mother-and fatherrelated attachment anxiety were associated with PB and PB was related to suicide ideation. We also found an indirect effect of father-related attachment anxiety on suicide ideation. This study provides empirical support for earlier systemic work that proposes how family relationships may influence an adolescent's suicidal ideation. Finally, we provide practical clinical suggestions for how therapists may implement a systemic wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jmft

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“…ABFT has also been adapted for, and successfully tested with, LGBTQ+ suicidal and depressed adolescents in the United States (Diamond et al, 2012;Russon et al, 2021) and Israeli young adults suffering from unresolved anger toward a parent (Diamond et al, 2016). Moreover, findings from a number of process research studies lend support for many of the model's purported change mechanisms, including emotional processing (Diamond et al, 2016;Lifshitz et al, 2020), increases in parental psychological autonomy granting behaviors (Shpigel et al, 2012) and corrective attachment episodes (Tsvieli et al, 2021). Prior to the current study, however, ABFT had not yet been tested with SGM young adults reporting persistent parental rejection or nonacceptance of their sexual or gender identity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attachment‐based family therapy for sexual and gender minority young adults and their nonaccepting parents

et al. 2022

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This pilot open trial examined the efficacy of attachment‐based family therapy (ABFT) for Israeli sexual and gender minority (SGM) young adults and their persistently nonaccepting parents. Thirty families received up to 26 weeks of treatment, with parental rejection, parental acceptance, and young adults' attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety assessed at baseline, 8, 16, 24, and 36 weeks (three months post‐treatment). Analyses using multilevel growth models revealed that both young adults and their mothers independently reported increases in mothers’ acceptance of their young adult's same‐sex orientation or noncisgender identity. In addition, young adults reported decreases in both parents’ levels of rejection. Also, mothers, but not fathers, reported decreases in their own level of rejection. Finally, young adults reported a decrease in attachment avoidance in their relationships with both mothers and fathers, but not a decrease in attachment anxiety. Importantly, these treatment gains were maintained three months after the end of treatment. Together, these results suggest that ABFT‐SGM, a manualized, affirmative, experiential, family‐based treatment, may be effective in reducing long‐standing parental rejection, promoting parental acceptance, and improving the quality of LGBTQ+ young adults’ relationships with their parents. These findings are encouraging in light of the urgent need for efficacious interventions to reduce family generated minority stress and promote safer, more supportive environments for sexual and gender minority people.

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Corrective attachment episodes in attachment-based family therapy: the power of enactment

Cited by 9 publications

References 35 publications

Parents' reflective functioning and their agreement on treatment goals in attachment‐based family therapy for sexual and gender minority young adults and their nonaccepting parents

Parents' reflective functioning and their agreement on treatment goals in attachment‐based family therapy for sexual and gender minority young adults and their nonaccepting parents

Family relationships and the interpersonal theory of suicide in a clinically suicidal sample of adolescents

Attachment‐based family therapy for sexual and gender minority young adults and their nonaccepting parents

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