Trauma and the Avoidant Client: Attachment-Based Strategies for Healing (Norton Professional Books (Hardcover))

Bought this as a client with avoidant attachment. I enjoy this book thoroughly, highlighting and hitting notes in different sections.

I read this book eagerly and very quickly-just like a great novel-because it was so captivating to be understood. I knew I was an avoidant when I bought the book and felt like I had developed a good understanding of myself. This book confirmed and also enhanced my understanding of how and why I interact with people the way I do. One of the points brought out by the author is that avoidants are very resistant to therapy and often do not even recognize their need for it. At one point while reading it, I felt like I had been tricked. Suddenly I felt like the book was actually targeting the avoidant client to help that person see how they could benefit from therapy. This book is not geared to the counselor, it is geared to the patient (client). Certainly, all the helps, tips and techniques given to the counselor in this book would have been material that had been studied in therapy school. I really thought that I would find helpful, practical suggestions in this book that would help me in my day to day interactions with people. I wanted to know how to fix how I present myself to others so that I could be more likeable. But, I guess, if the book told me how to do that then maybe I wouldn`t need to go find a counselor and get therapy.This book is an excellent introduction to the topic of avoidant behavior in traumatized people. I can see myself giving it to someone and saying, "Here, read this, and then you will be able to understand me better and know why I act the way I do". This book does not take it upon itself to show you how to get along better with others, the author wants you to go to a counselor for that.-

I'm in training to be a therapist, and primarily use interpersonal process psychotherapy (IPT). I really love this book. At this stage in my training, I've found that there's typically a focus on anxious/ambivalent attachment, and that clients' avoidant attachment is somewhat neglected (which is interesting, in and of itself). I thought the book really facilitated understanding of behaviors that are typically seen as "resistant" as instead part of clients' presenting interpersonal concerns, helped clinicians identify client beliefs, phrases, and behaviors that indicate a client may have this attachment style, and straightforward examples that helped illustrate his points. Dr. Muller provides a humanizing, empathetic approach to working with clients whose presentations may be challenging to clinicians' own goals and motivations for clinical work, and how to provide effective treatment.My own clinical work was greatly improved after reading this book, not only with those whose attachment could be classified as avoidant, but those who were recovering from trauma, more generally. I was better able to acknowledge and process signals that clients were uncomfortable with a topic being discussed, or that we were in conflict but had not voiced this--and I can't emphasize enough how much this benefited working alliance. I'll come back to this resource again and again.

Dr Muller brings together the theoretical considerations essential to an understanding of complex trauma and avoidant attachment. He goes on to interweave this beautifully with therapetuic practice principles creating a rich text. Dr Muller's elaborations of the place of the therapetuic relationship in recovery is elegantly achieved and provides a powerful tool for therapists grappling with the challenges faced with clients who have an avoidant attachment style. This book is highly readable. It's accessibility belies the complx notions it seeks to address. Dr Muller has not only brought a deep professional knowledge to the writing of this book but also infuses it with heart. It is a text that both my experienced and novice supervisees are finding uselful in their work.Lois WhitemanClinical Services ManagerThe Queensland Program of Assistance to Survivors of Torture and TraumaAustralia

I am a psychotherapist and I found this book very helpful and easy to read. The author does a good job of taking you through the steps of some newer techniques to use in healing. It is very helpful to understand the dependencies and also the effect trauma has on people. It is certainly not easy to get out of a trauma, but it is possible - it will take time however. This books gives a good starting point by making you understand and being aware, of what happened to you is already a big step forward. I hope this book helps many people to come to a better life.This is a must read for anyone (patients or therapists)recovering and healing from trauma, regardless of the source of the trauma.

This is an excellent book on Trauma and the avoidant client. This book focuses on attachment theory and provides the reader with some excellent, research based theory. The book is from a psychoanalytic perspective so if you are a therapist who practices primarily CBT or DBT, this book is really technical. Very valuable read however in terms of attachment theory.

I am not a psychologist but the 'Avoidant Client' looking for understanding and clues as to how to move forward. This book is easy to read but more importantly I was surprised by the number of paragraphs that hit the nail on the head. Rereading those paragraphs helped so much with the understanding of trauma and its effects on my life so far. It is clear to me now why I say and do certain things because it is as a result of this trauma. I hope the author will write a book specifically for clients who have difficulty speaking about the trauma with therapists.

How I wish every beginning therapist was forced to read this book ten times before seeing a single patient without supervision. Could save years of "undoing" later. Avoidance does not look like shyness or hiding in a corner. It's apparently not so apparent to everyone, and this book does a good job of starting the conversation that many more treatment providers should be having regularly.

Great, useful book about trauma and the avoidant client, read as a counselling student and it was useful to me for that purpose.

This is a much needed resource that details the reasons for avoidance in the client relating to their past trauma's andtachment history.It gives usefuls strategies on supporting clients with this and an insight for therapist into their own avoidance too.This book is equally useful for therapists and their clients.

Great seller. Book in excellent condition. I was pleasantly surprised and would recommend ++.

I was hoping to learn a lot and only learnt a little. Nothing earth shattering. Largely common sense.

More aimed at practitioners, still an interesting read for someone with attachment disorders. There so little good literature out there on things like AvPD. And it is ignored by mental health services much of the time.