The impact of intervention points of entry on attachment-based processes of therapeutic change with prepubertal children

Abstract

Although attachment-based interventions with mothers and infants are beginning to flourish, guidelines for developing attachment-based intervention with prepubertal children are lacking. This article remedies this lack by discussing the potential intervention points of entry with prepubertal children based on the precepts of attachment theory. In contrast to attachment-based early intervention, in which parental characteristics are targeted, attachment-based intervention with prepubertal children must include the child as well as the parents. Therapists attempting such an intervention must take into account the quality of the child's attachment pattern as well as their own quality of attachment pattern to provide an effective clinical experience. These key points are illustrated with two clinical cases that presented challenges to the therapist's selection of the intervention point of entry. In both cases, the author demonstrates that therapy needs to be tailor-made to the patient's needs, not vice versa. Therapists' awareness of the many intervention points of entry can serve to fit the treatment to the patient and thereby improve its effectiveness.