Integrative Attachment Therapy

I’m the first therapist in Singapore to be trained in Integrative Attachment Therapy (IAT), which was developed by Professor David S. Elliott and Nigel Denning for treating attachment insecurity (i.e. anxious, avoidant and disorganised attachment patterns).

IAT uses a three-pillar approach:

• Enhancing collaborative ability and skill

• Developing metacognitive abilities

• The Ideal Parent Figure protocol

The Ideal Parent Figure Protocol

In the Ideal Parent Figure protocol, the client imagines themselves as a young child interacting with new ideal parents in scenarios that create the five primary conditions for secure attachment: safety, attunement, comfort, being delighted in, and encouragement to be their best self.

Over a number of sessions, alongside enhancing collaborative ability and skill and developing metacognitive abilities, this seemingly simple imagery exercise essentially gives the client the childhood they wish they had had, and helps to creates secure attachment as the client internalises these ideal parents.

In this 2017 pilot study, 17 adults with childhood trauma (and complex posttraumatic stress disorder or CPTSD) who had 4 weekly sessions of the Ideal Parent Figure protocol showed a significant decrease in symptom severity and attachment traumatisation and a significant increase in quality of life.