EFT Adult Attachment Questionnaire: Mapping Attachment History

Uncovering the Roots of Connection: The Adult Attachment Assessment

The EFT Adult Attachment Questionnaire is a foundational clinical tool used to explore the early life experiences and attachment bonds that shape how an individual relates to others in adulthood. In Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), our “attachment style” is the internal working model that dictates how we seek comfort, manage vulnerability, and respond to perceived threats in our romantic relationships. This questionnaire provides the essential historical context needed to understand a client’s “internal map” of intimacy and safety.

Dimensions of the Attachment Narrative

This worksheet guides the client through a multi-generational exploration of their relational history:

• Early Caregiving Patterns: By identifying who provided comfort and whether they were “reliable,” clients uncover the origins of their trust or hyper-vigilance in current relationships.
• Trauma and Unavailability: Prompts regarding betrayal, abuse, or neglect highlight the attachment injuries that may still be driving defensive behaviors like emotional withdrawal or “pre-emptive strikes.”
• Self-Soothed Strategies: Asking how a client comforted themselves when unsafe reveals the development of “avoidant” or “anxious” coping mechanisms that often persist into adulthood.
• Adult Romantic History: This section bridges the gap between childhood and the present, exploring traumatic incidents in past romances and current struggles with vulnerability.
• Strengths and Goals: The final prompts shift the focus to the current relationship, identifying existing resilience and the specific “secure base” goals the client hopes to achieve in therapy.

Clinical Application

Therapists utilize this questionnaire during the Assessment phase of EFT to build a “case formulation” grounded in attachment theory. It is an invaluable resource for helping clients (and their partners) see that their current “reactive moves” are often deeply-rooted survival strategies. By understanding these historical drivers, clinicians can foster greater empathy within the couple and target the specific fears that prevent secure bonding.

References

• Johnson, S. M. (2019). Attachment Theory in Practice: Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) with Individuals, Couples, and Families. Guilford Press. (The primary text connecting early attachment history to current clinical presentations).
• Johnson, S. M. (2004). The Practice of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy: Creating Connection. Brunner-Routledge. (Detailing the use of attachment histories to understand the ‘pursue-withdraw’ cycle).
• Cassidy, J., & Shaver, P. R. (Eds.). (2016). Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research, and Clinical Applications. Guilford Press. (The definitive scientific resource on the impact of early attachment on adult relationships).
• Mikulincer, M., & Shaver, P. R. (2016). Attachment in Adulthood: Structure, Dynamics, and Change. Guilford Press. (Providing the empirical basis for how attachment questionnaires predict relational behavior).
• Bowlby, J. (1988). A Secure Base: Parent-Child Attachment and Healthy Human Development. Basic Books. (The foundational work establishing the concept of the ‘internal working model’ explored in this worksheet).