I Love a Theme

I love a theme.

Always have.

Growing up, every Christmas had a theme. Every birthday had a theme. Decorations matched. Gifts somehow fit together. Even if no one else noticed the pattern, I did.

And I learned it from my mom.

She used themes to make things even more magical. Birthdays weren't just birthdays. Christmas wasn't just Christmas. There was always a little something extra that made an ordinary moment feel special and helped everything come together. I still remember the thought she put into each theme—and the excitement in her voice when she would say, “Of course, there’s a theme.”

Now that I have a family of my own, not much has changed.

Our birthdays have themes. Christmas has themes. Sometimes entire seasons have themes.

My family teases me about it.

They're not wrong.

The truth is, themes do something for me. They help me organize ideas. They help me see how seemingly unrelated pieces fit together into one bigger story.

The more I've studied attachment theory over the years, the more I've realized that's exactly what secure attachment does for us.

Attachment helps us organize our world.

As children, we borrow the calm, predictability, and perspective of the people caring for us until we can develop those capacities ourselves. Through thousands of small moments, our brains begin to make sense of relationships, emotions, and experiences. We learn what's safe, what to expect, who we can trust, and ultimately who we believe ourselves to be.

Secure attachment creates coherence.

When our experiences make sense, our nervous systems settle.

When things fit together, we experience peace.

Maybe that's why I've always loved themes.

So naturally...

This blog has one.

It's August.

Summer is winding down. Schools are starting back. Calendars are filling up again. For many of us, it feels like the beginning of a new season rather than the end of one.

And for me, it feels like the right time to tell the story behind Applied Attachment.

I officially launched Applied Attachment at the beginning of the summer.

Since then, most of my work has happened quietly behind the scenes.

I've spent these first few months building systems, continuing the work with my therapy clients, creating new trainings, and—if I'm being honest—jumping into more business consulting opportunities than I ever imagined would come this quickly.

It's been exciting.

It's also been incredibly grounding.

But somewhere along the way, I realized I'd been so focused on building the practice that I hadn't shared much about the heart behind it.

Why attachment?

Why consulting?

Why therapy?

Why Applied Attachment?

Over the next few weeks, I want to invite you behind the scenes.

I want to share where these ideas came from, the conversations that shaped them, the people who influenced them, and the hope I have for this work.

Some of these stories are funny.

Some are deeply personal.

Some will probably make my family laugh because they've heard them before.

But together, they tell one story.

The story of why I believe attachment isn't just something therapists should understand.

It's something all of us can apply—to our marriages, our parenting, our friendships, our leadership, our workplaces, and our everyday lives.

So consider this our theme for the season.

We're going back to the beginning.

Not because the past is more important than the future.

But because understanding where something came from often helps us better understand where it's going.

I'm so glad you're here.