The Attachment Effect: Exploring the Powerful Ways Our Earliest Bond Shapes Our Relationships and Lives

A revealing look at attachment theory, uncovering how our early childhood experiences create a blueprint for all our relationships to come
 

Attachment theory is having a moment. It’s the subject of much-shared articles and popular relationship guides. Why is this 60-year-old theory, widely accepted in psychological circles, suddenly in vogue? Because people are discovering how powerfully it sheds light on who we love—and how.

Fascinated by the subject, award-winning journalist and author Peter Lovenheim embarked on a journey to understand it from the inside out. Interviewing researchers, professors, counselors, and other experts, as well as individuals and couples whose attachment stories illuminate and embody the theory's key concepts. The result is this engaging and revealing book, which is part journalism, part memoir, part psychological guide—and a fascinating read for anyone who wants to better understand the needs and dynamics that drive the complex relationships in their lives.

Topics include:
  *  What it means to be securely and insecurely attached
  *  How our early childhood experiences create a blueprint for future relationships—and how to use those insights to gain self-awareness and growth
  *  Why anxious and avoidant attachment types tend to attract each other, and how to break the negative cycle
  *  How anyone can work to become "earned secure" regardless of their upbringing and past relationships.