Attachment-Based Family Therapy (ABFT) is a manualized, empirically supported family therapy for adolescents and young adults and their caregivers developed to treat depression, eliminate suicidal ideation and behaviors, and reduce dispositional anxiety. Tested with diverse families, including low-income and minority families, ABFT is designed to capitalize on the innate, biological desire for meaningful and secure relationships. ABFT is grounded in attachment theory and provides an interpersonal, trauma-informed, emotion focused, process-oriented approach to treat mental health distress and/or family conflicts that leave youth feeling rejected and abandoned. ABFT addresses the problems that emerge when processes such as family conflict, harsh criticism, or trauma (e.g., abuse) rupture the secure base of family life, denying youth the normative developmental protective context. ABFT also addresses how a lack of caregiver comfort, support, or help can compound youths’ experience of stressful occurrences outside the home (e.g., bullying). ABFT aims to strengthen or repair caregiver–youth attachment bonds and family communication so that caregivers become a resource to help youth cope with stress, experience competency, and explore autonomy. The model unfolds through five treatment tasks: relational reframing, alliance building with the adolescent, alliance building with the parent(s), attachment repairing, and promoting autonomy. Each task has a clinical map and goals, with clear outcomes.

ABFT was developed as a 16-week outpatient treatment but can also be utilized in a shorter time frame (e.g., 30-day residential setting), longer time frames (e.g., 6-months), or in contexts across the mental health system (e.g., home-based services, residential). ABFT has also been adapted for several different populations (e.g., binge eating disorder, middle childhood, LGBTQIA+ youth), with good initial results. Additionally, ABFT has a long history of process research that aids in better understanding of the micro-changes that occur within therapeutic conversations, leading to treatment success or failure.

The ABFT Training Program has several resources, including a treatment manual (Diamond et al., 2014) to assist with implementation and dissemination of ABFT. Numerous training materials are listed on the ABFT website (abftinternational.com). The research and well-developed training program have set the foundation for dissemination of ABFT in 17 countries.