Heal attachment issues and build secure connections through attachment-based therapy. Find compassionate support tailored to your emotional needs.
At Upstream Counselling, our attachment-based therapy service is grounded in attachment theory and guided by the clinical model developed through the work of John Bowlby (the founder of attachment theory). This therapeutic approach helps adolescents, young adults, and adults understand how their attachment experiences with primary caregivers influence their current relationships and emotional well-being.
We help clients explore their attachment style, whether avoidant, anxious, or disorganized attachment, and how these patterns are shaped by internal working models, unresolved attachment ruptures, and the effects of negative early attachment.
Through supportive talk therapy and CBT techniques, we work to heal attachment trauma, reduce symptoms of attachment disorder, and strengthen attachment security. Our expert therapists provide a safe space to process painful interpersonal experiences, navigate complex family dynamics, and reconnect with core attachment figures. This service ultimately supports emotional reconnection, increased resilience, and the development of a more secure attachment.
Our Attachment-based therapy provides a transformative path to understanding and healing attachment difficulties, offering a compassionate approach to therapy that strengthens emotional bonds, fosters secure connections, and supports lasting personal growth.
Developing secure attachment fosters deeper trust and intimacy in family relationships and beyond. Our psychotherapy helps repair emotional ruptures and nurtures meaningful, lasting bonds grounded in empathy, safety, and mutual understanding.
Through expert guidance, clients build cognitive and emotional coping skills that strengthen their psychological resilience. This process supports healing from childhood attachment wounds and fosters growth in facing relational and emotional stressors.
Our expert team helps clients explore early attachment and how it shaped their attachment and emotional responses. This insight supports behavioural shifts and promotes healthier connection patterns across personal and family relationship dynamics.
Attachment-based psychotherapy promotes emotional regulation by helping clients identify and process overwhelming feelings. As clarity replaces confusion, individuals become more equipped to express themselves and manage emotional distress with confidence and calm.
For those with an anxious attachment style or avoidant tendencies, therapy encourages more balanced and secure ways of relating. Clients learn to develop healthier attachment responses in both intimate and family relationship settings.
Our therapy treatment, whether individual therapy sessions, group therapy, or attachment-based family therapy, offers a safe, compassionate space. Clients receive structured support to work through attachment issues with qualified therapists trained in relational healing.
Take control of the process.
Beginning therapy can feel daunting but the truth is you decide what (and when) to share. Our diverse team specializes in a range of issues including anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, and relationship issues. No matter your situation, we're here to support your journey to empowerment and mental wellness.
Your therapist is your guide.
Finding the right therapist is key to achieving your goals. Dip your toes into the therapy experience by booking a free consultation with one of our registered psychotherapists. These appointments are an opportunity to address your questions and explore your challenges, needs, and aspirations.
Commit to the experience.
To maximize the benefits of counselling it’s important you attend sessions consistently. When in session, we encourage you to lead the agenda. (Remember, this is YOUR therapy!) Between sessions, we hope you will strive to apply new insights, practice new skills, and develop new habits that support personal growth.
Ready to strengthen your emotional bonds and feel more connected in your relationships?
At Upstream Counselling, our attachment-based therapy services are tailored to help clients resolve the emotional complexities linked to early attachment experiences and attachment challenges. Whether you’re struggling with relationship issues, emotional disconnection, or residual pain from past attachments, our therapy aims to help you find relief and create meaningful change.
“When early bonds are broken or inconsistent, healing begins by understanding where the pain started.”
Our therapists help clients revisit formative experiences with attachment figures and guide them in re-establishing a sense of emotional security. Drawing from attachment theory and research, we help you explore your attachment pattern, whether it's rooted in fearful, anxious, or avoidant attachment.
This therapy can be especially beneficial for adolescents dealing with emotional withdrawal or depressed and suicidal adolescents requiring attachment-based family therapy, adults and their nonaccepting parents seeking reconciliation and deeper connection, Gender minority young adults healing from family intervention or rejection, and individuals with unresolved attachment trauma affecting relationships as an adult
Our therapy process is deeply informed by attachment theory and provides a space where you can safely explore your emotional world. Through our supportive psychotherapy sessions, you'll gain awareness, build trust, and develop healthier ways of relating with yourself and others. Let us help you reconnect to what matters most: secure, fulfilling relationships.
At Upstream Counselling, we want you to feel comfortable with the counselling process. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about talking to a therapist about this type of therapy.
When you're struggling with emotional disconnection or unresolved trauma, an intervention for attachment issues guided by an attachment-based therapist can provide a structured path to healing. At Upstream Counselling, our approach is rooted in empathy, understanding, and personalized care to help you manage attachment wounds and rebuild trust.
Understanding the Need for Attachment: Many emotional struggles stem from an unmet need for attachment in early relationships. When this need is not met, it often leads to emotional distress and insecure bonds. Everyone needs a secure attachment to at least one reliable caregiver to form healthy emotional patterns. Our therapists help explore how the absence of this foundation continues to shape your current relationships.
Exploring Your Attachment Relationship: Through therapy, you'll better understand how your past attachment relationship with a caregiver has shaped your emotional responses. This process lays the groundwork for healing and reconnecting with others securely.
Addressing Insecure Attachment Style: Whether you have an avoidant, anxious, or fearful attachment style, our therapists provide targeted support to shift these patterns. We help you replace automatic defences with intentional, healthy relationship skills.
Providing a Corrective Attachment Experience: A key aspect of attachment-based therapy includes offering a corrective attachment through the therapeutic relationship itself. This allows you to experience safety, consistency, and emotional presence, often for the first time.
Supporting Therapy for Depressed and Suicidal Clients: We also provide attachment-based family therapy for depressed and suicidal adolescents, guiding both the individual and family through meaningful intervention. This support can restore communication and build hope within the family system.
The benefits of attachment therapy create a path for deeper emotional connection, secure self-awareness, and relational growth. At Upstream Counselling, we help clients rewire unhelpful relational patterns and find emotional freedom through compassionate, evidence-based care. Here are ways you can benefit from attachment-based therapy:
Secure Emotional Bonds: A major benefit of attachment therapy is its focus on forming safe, secure emotional bonds. This can help you move from relational instability to deeper, more consistent connections with loved ones.
Developing Emotional Regulation: Our therapy helps you identify emotional triggers rooted in past experiences and gives you tools to regulate your emotions more effectively. As you manage attachment responses, your reactions become more grounded and intentional.
Fostering Self-Awareness and Insight: By exploring your internal working models, therapy supports your self-awareness and reveals how past experiences affect current behaviour. This insight is a powerful step toward personal transformation.
Reconnecting Young Adults and Their Parents: Attachment-based therapy is particularly helpful for young adults and their parents navigating disconnection. We provide a safe space for dialogue, empathy, and mutual understanding to rebuild emotional trust.
Improving Adult Attachment Patterns: If you're struggling in adult relationships, therapy may help you become more emotionally available and less reactive. It allows you to examine unhelpful dynamics and foster secure attachment in your partnerships.
Attachment based family therapy for sexual and gender identity concerns focuses on helping families rebuild trust, acceptance, and emotional security. At Upstream Counselling, we support young adults and their nonaccepting families with empathy and therapeutic guidance that honours identity and strengthens bonds.
Repairing Attachment Ruptures: For many LGBTQ+ individuals, nonacceptance from family leads to painful attachment ruptures. Therapy provides a structured space to explore these breaks and facilitate healing through honest, respectful conversations.
Supporting Young Adults in Identity Development: We help young adults process rejection and develop a secure sense of self. This therapeutic space fosters resilience while helping them find their voice in navigating identity and relationships.
Encouraging Parental Understanding: Parents may experience confusion or fear when faced with a child’s gender or sexual identity. Family therapists guide them in understanding how their responses affect attachment and how to build affirming relationships.
Navigating Fearful Attachment: Fearful attachment often develops in environments of rejection or unpredictability. Our therapy addresses this by cultivating emotional safety and consistent presence in the family unit.
Utilizing the Family Therapy Model: Our attachment therapy approach emphasizes relational repair and shared emotional growth. This model encourages family members to understand each other’s emotional world, fostering empathy and stronger connections.
At Upstream Counselling, we use a variety of therapeutic methods grounded in attachment theory to support healing and emotional reconnection. These methods are tailored to your unique attachment needs and are supported by current research and clinical psychology practices.
Tailored Forms of Therapy: Attachment therapy may be delivered in individual, group, or family therapy sessions, depending on your needs. Each form of therapy offers a structured path to explore and shift your experiences.
Therapeutic Presence and Attunement: Our therapists use their own emotional presence as a tool for healing. Through attuned listening and validation, you receive a consistent, safe relational experience that helps rewire insecure patterns.
Talk Therapy Rooted in Attachment: We draw on the Handbook of Attachment and other foundational research to inform talk therapy sessions. Attachment theory also provides a framework for understanding how your early emotional experiences continue to influence your present-day struggles, helping guide the healing process more effectively.
Exploration of Different Attachment Styles: Your therapist will help you explore different styles, such as anxious, avoidant, or disorganized, to understand how they developed and how they play out in daily life. This clarity empowers you to choose new ways of relating.
Encouraging Emotional Repair and Growth: In each session, we support clients through emotional repair, guiding them toward new narratives and behaviours. Over time, this fosters greater self-trust and improved relationships with others.
Choosing the right therapeutic approach can be challenging, but if you're experiencing unresolved relational patterns or emotional disconnection, attachment-based therapy may be a powerful fit. At Upstream Counselling, we help you determine whether this path aligns with your goals and needs.
Recognizing Attachment Problems: If you notice recurring relationship difficulties, emotional reactivity, or fear of closeness, these may signal underlying attachment problems. Our therapists help identify these patterns and guide you through healing them.
Support for Child Attachment Challenges: Children struggling with separation anxiety, emotional shutdown, or aggression may need help with child attachment. Early intervention can help the child form healthier bonds and improve emotional development.
Guidance to Find an Attachment Therapist: We make it easy to find an attachment therapist through a free consultation. During this session, we explore your concerns and whether this form of therapy is the best fit for you.
Addressing Issues from Primary Caregivers: Attachment-based therapy aims to revisit and resolve early emotional wounds, especially those stemming from relationships with caregivers. Working through this can unlock new emotional clarity and peace.
Safe, Structured Therapy Sessions: Our therapy sessions provide a structured, compassionate space to explore emotions and reconnect with what matters. Whether working individually or as a family, we help you build the secure base you've always needed.
Our team at Upstream Counselling is here to help you explore issues, gain insights, begin your journey towards healing, and work towards the goals you identify during the counselling process.
Personalized therapy designed to address specific mental health issues while also nurturing personal growth and well-being.
A counselling program focusing on fostering effective communication, resolving conflicts, and nurturing healthy relationships.
A program designed to support clinical growth, whether you’re a student or a seasoned professional.
Know who you want to book with?
Book Online HereHave questions about counselling or something else?
Call or email us.
Want help choosing the right therapist? Complete our connect form below.
We are ready and looking forward to meeting you. Get started today by clicking the link below and booking your free 15-minute discovery call. All our services are private and confidential.
Disclaimer: Content on this website is for informational purposes only. Visiting this website does not establish any type of therapist-client relationship with Upstream Counselling or its staff. Information obtained from this site does not substitute for a thorough medical and/or psychiatric evaluation by an appropriately credentialed and licensed professional.
