Attachment Focused Treatment Institute

Year Founded: 1995

Model of Therapy: Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy

Available training types: Master Classes for certification, on location at your agency, or via the Internet using Skype or WebEx. In addition, there is a self-study option.

Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy is an evidence-based treatment that offers a model of treatment and parenting for children, adolescents, and their families for the treatment of disorders of attachment and complex trauma. When a person’s early attachment history includes neglect, abuse, or multiple placements and the person has failed to experience the necessary dyadic (reciprocal) interaction between child and parent, that person often has a diminished ability to participate in such experiences. Specialized treatment and parenting are often required for these children and adolescents.

The foundation of these interventions—both in treatment and at home—must incorporate acceptance, playfulness, empathy, and curiosity. At the outset, a thorough initial assessment is conducted that addresses the seven domains that may be affected by complex trauma, and a detailed treatment plan is set forth.

Treatment typically requires one two-hour session per week, divided up as follows:

• Initial sessions are conducted with caregivers to facilitate their “discovery” of essential elements of attachment-facilitating parenting, aided with the review of the book, Attachment Parenting, edited by Arthur Becker-Weidman, PhD.
• Next, when the caregivers are ready, each two-hour session starts with therapist and caregivers, followed by a session with both child and caregivers, and ends with time for caregivers to review the session with the therapist.

The Attachment-Focused Treatment Institute certifies practitioners of Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy and Attachment-Focused Treatment. This is a University-based certification program, a part of the Graduate Counseling program of the Academy of Human Development. Practitioners are required to show competency in the differential use of the components of treatment (14 specific components) in different phases of treatment (five phases).