Attachment abuse can involve both physical and emotional violence between people in close relationships, which includes couples, parents and their children, and adult children and their aging parents, among others. Attachment abusers blame their victims for their own feelings of shame, inadequacy, or inability to love. Dr. Stosny's innovative and integrative approach to the treatment of attachment abuse emphasizes the importance of compassion for both the abused and the abuser. This hands-on manual provides a series of treatment modules designed to teach the perpetrators and the victims how to cope with their feelings and to end attachment abuse. This volume will be of interest to psychotherapists, group therapists, social workers, and counselors working with abusive clients and their victims.

Steven Stosny, PhD, Director of the Community Outreach Service, which serves clients in and around Washington, DC, received his doctorate in clinical social work from the University of Maryland at Baltimore. He has treated more than 600 perpetrators and victims of various forms of attachment abuse and is the author of books, articles, and chapters about various forms of abuse. During the past 5 years Dr. Stosny has developed the Compassion Workshop, and has worked with a highly varied population of abusers and victims. His passion about attachment abuse grew from his childhood experience in a violent home.

Tags: treating attachment abuse