Attachment injuries in couple relationships: a new perspective on impasses in couples therapy

Journal of Marital and Family Therapy
S M JohnsonJ W Millikin

Abstract

This article identifies and operationalizes the newly defined construct of attachment injury. An attachment injury occurs when one partner violates the expectation that the other will offer comfort and caring in times of danger or distress. This incident becomes a clinically recurring theme and creates an impasse that blocks relationship repair in couples therapy. An attachment injury is characterized by an abandonment or by a betrayal of trust during a critical moment of need. The injurious incident defines the relationship as insecure and maintains relationship distress because it is continually used as a standard for the dependability of the offending partner. The concept of an attachment injury is defined here in the context of emotionally focused therapy, an empirically validated, short-term approach to modifying distress in couples. The broad theoretical underpinnings of this concept may be found in attachment theory as applied to adult romantic relationships. Through the delineation of attachment injury events and the ongoing development of a detailed model of resolution, couples therapists will be better able to identify, describe, and effectively treat such injuries and address the therapeutic impasses that are associa...Continue Reading

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Citations

Apr 27, 2012·Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy·Olga Sutherland
Nov 1, 2011·Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience·Igor I GalynkerArnold Winston
Oct 18, 2002·Journal of Marital and Family Therapy·Paula F CloutierSusan M Johnson
Aug 29, 2002·Journal of Marital and Family Therapy·D Eugene Mead
Sep 4, 2007·Journal of Affective Disorders·Leon Sloman
Jun 25, 2005·Journal of Marital and Family Therapy·Adrian J Blow, Kelley Hartnett
Sep 25, 2004·Family Process·Michele Scheinkman, Mona Dekoven Fishbane
Jul 23, 2003·Journal of Marital and Family Therapy·John KowalAlison Lee
Jul 23, 2003·Journal of Marital and Family Therapy·Susan M Johnson
Apr 30, 2004·Journal of Marital and Family Therapy·Brent Bradley, James L Furrow
Jul 9, 2008·Family Process·Michele Scheinkman
Mar 1, 2013·Family Process·Daniel B Wile
Jul 26, 2014·Journal of Marital and Family Therapy·Kirstee Williams, Carmen Knudson-Martin
Oct 1, 2013·Journal of Marital and Family Therapy·Sharon M DanesJinhee Lee
Nov 3, 2010·Journal of Marital and Family Therapy·Julia B SayreElizabeth L Spring
Jul 26, 2014·Journal of Marital and Family Therapy·Douglas Tilley, Gail Palmer
Jul 22, 2014·Journal of Marital and Family Therapy·Christine Schneider, Andrew S Brimhall
Jul 26, 2014·Journal of Marital and Family Therapy·Catalina Woldarsky Meneses, Leslie S Greenberg
Jan 16, 2010·Journal of Marital and Family Therapy·Leslie GreenbergWanda Malcolm
Aug 19, 2015·Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy·J A IfflandP Briken
Dec 20, 2015·Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy·Irum Saeed Abbasi, Nawal G Alghamdi
Mar 7, 2015·Attachment & Human Development·Roger KobakE Stephanie Krauthamer Ewing
Sep 10, 2014·Journal of Youth and Adolescence·Andrea OskisDavid A Sbarra
Feb 7, 2009·The Cancer Journal·Patricia Fobair, David Spiegel
May 14, 2019·Journal of Marital and Family Therapy·Jonathan G SandbergKwin Willis
Jun 14, 2020·Stress and Health : Journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress·Michelle LonerganDanielle Groleau
Oct 18, 2012·Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. Revue Canadienne De Psychiatrie·Leon Sloman, Edward D Sturman
Mar 19, 2021·Journal of Marital and Family Therapy·Robert AllanT Leanne Campbell
May 25, 2021·Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal : C & a·Jami-Leigh SawyerRandi Zlotnik-Shaul

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