by Richard Amaral | Oct 1, 2022 | Attachment Theory, Thinking, Trauma
This past week on September 30th, Canadians marked the second annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The day is also informally known as Orange Shirt Day, where people wear orange shirts to remind themselves of the tragedies and suffering that...
by Richard Amaral | Apr 23, 2022 | Attachment Theory, Lifestyle, Mental Health, Mind-Body Health, Relationships, Youth and Adolescents
During a therapy session, I’ll ask specific questions about my clients’ relationships with caregivers in childhood and their relationships today as an adult – both with those same caregivers and with others. The reason for paying attention to...
by Richard Amaral | Sep 26, 2013 | All Entries, Attachment Theory, Relationships
There are many fathers who face tremendous challenges – within themselves and society – when they try to connect with their families. A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of presenting at the “Engaging Fathers” conference in Seattle, Washington. The...
by Richard Amaral | May 3, 2011 | All Entries, Attachment Theory
In last week’s blog, I spoke about The Strange Situation, an experiment devised by Dr. Mary Ainsworth for identifying the different ways that children (and theoretically, adults) relate to others. The first attachment style that I discussed was Secure Attachment...
by Richard Amaral | Apr 25, 2011 | All Entries, Attachment Theory
I remember facilitating psychotherapy groups for adolescents a few years ago. One of the topics that always led to interesting discussions was that of Relationships. Whenever this topic came up, especially when discussing past or current partners, there were two words...
by Richard Amaral | Apr 18, 2011 | All Entries, Attachment Theory, Relationships
Imagine you are in the early stages of a romantic relationship. The two of you have been spending much time together in person – almost every waking moment, in fact. When you are not together, you do whatever you can to stay connected – through email, texting, phone...