Application of Attachment Theory to a Case Study II

Attachment theory provides a helpful understanding of how early relationships with caregivers shape emotions, attitudes, and social conduct. When attachments are broken, they can result in emotional and relationship difficulties. Using attachment theory as a conceptual basis, this paper considers Ella Schultz’s case to understand her difficulties and suggest helpful interventions: Application of Attachment Theory to a Case Study II.

Assumptions of Attachment Theory

Attachment theory, developed by John Bowlby and elaborated by Mary Ainsworth, suggests that humans are born with a primal need to forge strong emotional attachments to caregivers, who act as a “secure base” to explore the world (Foley, 2009). Attachment theory proposes that early attachments shape internal working models, mental models of self and others that, in turn, determine an individual’s experiences of relationships across their lifetime (Rossi et al., 2025). When attachments are insecure, especially in the context of neglect or trauma, people are more likely to have problems with how they think and how they relate to others.

Identifying the Problem from an Attachment Theory Perspective

From an attachment theory perspective, the core issue in the case of Ella Schultz pertains to her disordered attachment relationships, especially with her primary caregivers. Her sense of trust and safety was deeply shaken when her father began to abuse her, and her mother, either incapable or unwilling to protect her, denied his behavior (Walden University, n.d.). These early traumas have damaged Ella’s capacity to create lasting, trusting connections and led to her unhealthy lifestyle and indecision about whether to return to her family.

How Attachment Theory Defines and Explains the Cause of the Problem

Attachment theory describes the issue as Ella’s caregivers not giving her secure, sensitive, and emotionally stable relationships from early childhood. This disturbance threatened her early internal working models regarding trust and safety with others, leading to insecure attachment. Ella has maladaptive coping strategies and finds it hard to develop stable, healthy relationships, especially in times of difficulty or vulnerability.

Two Assessment Questions Guided by Attachment Theory

To gain an appreciation of how her experiences of stress, attachment, and environment are affecting her current functioning, I would inquire about her relational history and emotional needs. One assessment question is: How did it make you feel emotionally when you were trying to find some comfort and some support from your parents at a time of difficulty? The second assessment question would be: Can you describe a relationship in your life, past or present, that made you feel safe, understood, or cared for?

Two Interventions to Address the Problem

One intervention is to create a stable and trusting therapeutic relationship in which the social worker serves as a secure base to assist Ella in forming new internal working models of safety and security in relationships. A stable and trusting therapeutic relationship includes providing emotional attunement, validation, and a sense of safety to offset past hurts of rejection and abandonment (Finsrud et al., 2021). A second level of intervention would be to initiate family-based therapy to repair Ella’s attachment with her mother, assuming it is safe to do so. This could help Ella and her mother identify historical attachment injuries, rebuild trust, and create healthier patterns of emotional responsiveness and caregiving.

Self-Reflective Question

One question I should ask myself is: How might my own early attachment experiences shape the way I perceive and respond to the client’s emotional needs? Reflective practice grounded in attachment theory enhances the practitioner’s capacity for attunement and emotional responsiveness in therapeutic settings (Davì et al., 2024). Thinking about this has helped me see if I have any biases or defenses that I sneak along into the conversation. I carry this knowledge into a deeper level of empathy, where I can more readily feel the sense of safety, trust, or threat the client has regarding the relationship.

Conclusion

In summary, attachment theory is a useful explanatory model of Ella’s troubles. It indicates how her traumas and deprivation of a sense of relational safety present struggles with trust and emotional regulation. By understanding Ella’s attachment history and addressing safety and bonding experts’ therapies, social workers can help Ella build healthy relationships and stronger coping skills. Thinking about my attachment is helpful to me because I can relate more empathically to her.

References

Davì, D., Prestano, C., & Vegni, N. (2024). Exploring therapeutic responsiveness: A comparative textual analysis across different models. Frontiers in Psychology, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1412220

Finsrud, I., Nissen-Lie, H. A., Vrabel, K., Høstmælingen, A., Wampold, B. E., & Ulvenes, P. G. (2021). It’s the therapist and the treatment: The structure of common therapeutic relationship factors. Psychotherapy Research, 32(2), 139–150. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2021.1916640

Foley, M., Nash, M., & Munford, R. (2009). Bringing practice into theory: Reflective practice and attachment theory. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work, 21(1), 39-47.

Rossi, R., Jannini, T. B., Socci, V., Pacitti, F., Rossi, A., & Di Lorenzo, G. (2025). Role of attachment style in the association between childhood adversities and non-suicidal self-injury among young adults: A multigroup structural equation study. General Psychiatry, 38(2), e101277. https://doi.org/10.1136/gpsych-2023-101277

Walden University. (n.d.). Theory into practice: Four social work case studies. Walden University, LLC.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

We’ll write everything from scratch

Application of Attachment Theory to a Case Study II
*** As you have read, theory guides the conceptualization of the client’s problem and how social workers assess and intervene relative to the problem. However, theory can also shape the self-reflective questions social workers ask themselves. Clients often come to social workers under stress or distress. This then affects how the social worker responds and thus the client-social worker relationship.

As a result, Foley, Nash, and Munford (2009) employed attachment theory as a “lens in which to view the reflective process itself and to gain greater understanding and empathy for what each social worker within each unique social work-client relationship can access of that relationship for reflection” (pp. 44).

This week, you will apply attachment theory to the case study you chose in Week 2. In other words, your theoretical orientation—or lens—is attachment theory as you analyze the case study.

To Prepare

• Review the same case study you selected from last week’s Assignment. (Remember: You will be using this same case study throughout the entire course.)
• Use the Analysis of a Theory Worksheet to help you dissect the theory. Use this tool to dissect the theory, employ the information in the table to complete your Assignment, and then keep it to add to your Theories Study Guide in Week 11.
• Review attachment theory and the following article listed in the Learning Resources: Foley, M., Nash, M., & Munford, R. (2009). Bringing practice into theory: Reflective practice and attachment theory. (ATTACHED)
  

  Application of Attachment Theory to a Case Study II

ASSIGNMENT QUESTION:
Submit a 1- to 2-page case write-up that addresses the following:

• Summarize the assumptions of attachment theory in 2–3 sentences.
• Identify the problem in your chosen case study to be worked on from an attachment theory perspective.
• Explain how attachment theory defines and explains the cause of the problem in 1–2 sentences.
• Develop two assessment questions that are guided by attachment theory that you would ask the client to understand how the stress or distress, bond, and/or environment is affecting the client.
• Identify two interventions to address the problem. Remember, the theory should be driving the interventions. In other words, you would not identify systematic desensitization since this is not an intervention guided by attachment theory.
• Write one self-reflective question that is influenced by attachment theory that you can ask yourself to gain greater empathy for what the client is experiencing.

*Submit also, as a separate document, your Week 3 Analysis of a Theory Worksheet.

Be sure to:

• Identify and correctly reference the case study you have chosen.
• Use literature to support your claims.
• Use APA formatting and style.
• Remember to double-space your paper.