Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find--and Keep-- Love

Amir Levine, Rachel Heller

Penguin, Jan 5, 2012 - Family & Relationships - 304 pages

“Over a decade after its publication, one book on dating has people firmly in its grip.”
—The New York Times


We already rely on science to tell us what to eat, when to exercise, and how long to sleep. Why not use science to help us improve our relationships? In this revolutionary book, psychiatrist and neuroscientist Dr. Amir Levine and Rachel Heller scientifically explain why why some people seem to navigate relationships effortlessly, while others struggle.

Discover how an understanding of adult attachment—the most advanced relationship science in existence today—can help us find and sustain love. Pioneered by psychologist John Bowlby in the 1950s, the field of attachment posits that each of us behaves in relationships in one of three distinct ways:

   • Anxious people are often preoccupied with their relationships and tend to worry about their partner's ability to love them back
   • Avoidant people equate intimacy with a loss of independence and constantly try to minimize closeness.
   • Secure people feel comfortable with intimacy and are usually warm and loving.

 

Attached guides readers in determining what attachment style they and their mate (or potential mate) follow, offering a road map for building stronger, more fulfilling connections with the people they love.

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - Kristelh - LibraryThing

This was a free audible last year. It was interesting to listen to it. It covers the research in adult attachment and found that adult attachments are the same styles as infants, anxious, avoidant and ...

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - damienfranco - LibraryThing

This review is limited to the audio book. I felt like I would have gotten more out of actually reading the book instead of listening to it. This is a rarity for me. I enjoy listening to books during ...

Contents

• Decoding Relationship Behavior: 3
• Dependency Is Not a Bad Word: 19
• What Is My Attachment Style?: 39
• The Anxious Attachment Style: 77
• The Avoidant Attachment Style: 109
• The Secure Attachment Style: 131
• The AnxiousAvoidant Trap: 153
• How the AnxiousAvoidant Couple: 163
• An Attachment Guide: 195
• Getting the Message Across: 219
• Five Secure Principles: 243
• Epilogue: 268
• Acknowledgments: 274
• Index: 284

About the author

Amir Levine, M.D. is an adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist and neuroscientist. He graduated from the residency program at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University and for the past few years Amir has been conducting neuroscience research at Columbia under the mentorship of Nobel Prize Laureate Eric Kandel. Amir also has a passion for working with patients and it is in this context, while working with mothers and children in a therapeutic nursery, that he first discovered the power of attachment theory. His clinical work together with his deep understanding of the brain from a neuroscientist’s perspective contribute to his appreciation of attachment theory and its remarkable effectiveness in helping to heal patients. Amir lives in New York City.

Rachel Heller, M.A. studied at Columbia University with some of the most prominent scholars in the field of social psychology. She now works with families and couples as a psychologist in private practice. Rachel lives in Israel.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find--and Keep-- Love
• Authors: Amir Levine, Rachel Heller
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: Penguin, 2012
• ISBN: 1585429139, 9781585429134
• Length: 304 pages
• Subjects: Family & Relationships / Love & Romance; Psychology / Interpersonal Relations; Self-Help / Communication & Social Skills