Promoting attachment security - A central task of the child-guidance-clinic

Attachment theory provides fundamental knowledge for the work of child guidance clinics. Attachment guided diagnosis is assessing the parental sensitivity, the patterns of attachment and the attachment history of the family members as well as other relevant domains influencing the attachment dynamic in the family, for example actual life stress, traumatic experiences, intergenerational transmissions and so on. Relationships and the regulation of stressful feelings and situations in relationships are in the focus of the work. Interventions aim at supporting parents in their function as a secure haven and a secure base for the child, because secure attachments are a basis of children's resiliency, self regulation skills and autonomy. General interventions and pattern-specific goals of intervention are presented. A case example completes the presentation.