Book: Intervening in stress, attachment and challenging behaviour

First, the study confirmed the plasticity of the development of an attachment relationship even in adolescence, indicating also that it was possible to develop an affect-regulating relationship with clients with visual and severe intellectual disabilities who had not had the opportunity to develop an attachment relationship with specific attachment figures earlier in life.

Second, an attachment-based intervention can help children with multiple disabilities and unfavourable past experiences to cope with challenges to mental health. This was found in clients for whom, in the past, no other therapies and interventions had proven successful.

Author: Paula Sterkenburg