Attachment processes in couples therapy: Informing behavioral models

volume, attachment theory has become a prominent theory for understanding functioning in adult romantic relationships. Since the publication of Hazan and Shaver’s (1987) seminal paper describing the application of attachment theory to adult romantic relationships, research demonstrating how attachment security affects relationships has burgeoned. However, relatively little of that research has been disseminated to practicioners working with couples or applied systematically to interventions for distressed couples (see Johnson, Hunsley, Greenberg, & Schindler, 1999; Johnson & Whiffen, 1999; Johnson, this volume, for notable exceptions). The goal of this chapter is to discuss why attachment processes can be an important focus in couples treatment and to describe the role of attachment processes in romantic relationships, with an eye towards highlighting those processes that practicioners may want to be alert to in the couples they treat.