Integrating Attachment Processes with Lifespan Integration Therapy: a Hermeneutic Single Case Efficacy Design with an Adopted Child

Adopted children are at heightened risk for developing attachment insecurity due to relational disruptions experienced early in life. A newly developed therapy, Lifespan Integration (LI; Pace in Lifespan Integration: Connecting ego states through time (5th ed.), 2012), shows promise in reducing psychopathology and other detrimental outcomes with individuals exhibiting disrupted attachment. In this study, the efficacy of LI for addressing attachment processes with adopted children in middle childhood was investigated. A Hermeneutic Single Case Efficacy Design (Elliott in Psychotherapy Research, 12(1), 1-21, 2002 & The handbook of humanistic psychology: Theory, research and practice (2nd ed., pp. 351-360), 2015) was used to gather quantitative and qualitative data from an adoptive parent–child dyad experiencing LI therapy for the first time. The research participant, a 12-year-old male, received 10 sessions of LI therapy with his adoptive mother present to facilitate a more secure attachment. Client change and the contribution of LI to this change was advocated by expert case developers, and adjudicated by three experts, who concluded that change occurred and that this change was due to LI therapy. Changes in internal attachment processes, and the attachment bond between the parent and child of this dyad, was observed. This case provides evidence that attachment disruptions can potentially be repaired in middle childhood and ought to be targeted for intervention in early childhood and beyond to prevent later socio-emotional and psychological issues.