This Is Applied Attachment

I love when a theme comes together.

So it feels fitting that after spending August telling the story of how Applied Attachment Counseling and Consulting came to be, I should end by pulling the pieces together.

Over the last few weeks, I've shared the idea that started as an attachment consulting company, the years I spent learning about attachment theory beyond the therapy room, the many names that came before Applied Attachment, and the conversation around my kitchen island when my husband finally lit up at the name.

I've shared the teachers who were brave enough to tell the truth, the experience that changed the direction of the business, and the grief and unexpected beginnings that came with it.

Looking back at all of those stories, there is one thing I keep coming back to:

Applied Attachment didn't happen because I figured it all out on my own.

It happened in relationship.

That shouldn't surprise me. After all, that's what attachment teaches us.

We are shaped by the people around us.

We borrow courage. We borrow perspective. We borrow regulation.

Sometimes someone sees something in us before we're able to see it ourselves. Sometimes someone asks a question that changes the direction of our thinking. Sometimes someone gives us enough safety to take a risk.

That has certainly been true for me.

When I first imagined Applied Attachment, I thought I was building an attachment consulting company for organizations and workplaces. I didn't know I was building a therapy practice too. I didn't know how much courage it would take, how much grief would come with it, or how many people would become part of the story.

But that's attachment.

We are always becoming in relationship.

And that is why I believe attachment matters far beyond the therapy room.

Attachment is happening everywhere people are in relationship—in our marriages, our parenting, our friendships, our classrooms, our workplaces, and our leadership.

It's in the way we give feedback.

The way we handle mistakes.

Whether people feel safe enough to disagree or ask for help.

Whether people believe they matter.

The question isn't whether attachment is happening.

The question is what we're doing with it.

That's where Applied Attachment comes in.

I don't want to keep attachment theory in the therapy room.

I want to apply it.

I want to help organizations understand attachment in leadership, teams, and workplace culture. I want to help therapists think more deeply about the relationships they create with clients and with one another. And I want to help all of us recognize the ways we are shaping one another every day.

Because we are always sending messages about safety, belonging, trust, worth, and connection.

That is what I'm building.

Not just a therapy practice.

Not just a consulting company.

But a place where the science of attachment can be applied to the places where we live, work, lead, parent, teach, and connect.

So, that's our August theme.

Now you know how we got here.

And maybe the most attachment-consistent part of the whole story is this:

I didn't build Applied Attachment alone.

And I don't intend to build what comes next alone either.

The theme is complete.

Now, let's see where it takes us.

I'm so glad you're here with me.