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Contemporary Family Therapy

, Volume 41, Issue 4, pp 368–383 | Cite as

A Hold Me Tight Workshop for Couple Attachment and Sexual Intimacy

  • Brianna L. MorgisEmail author
  • E. Stephanie Krauthamer Ewing
  • Ting Liu
  • Jaime Slaughter-Acey
  • Kathleen Fisher
  • Ruth Jampol
Original Paper
First Online:
  • 119 Downloads

Abstract

There is an abundance of research demonstrating significant relationships between romantic attachment and sexual intimacy, which in this study refers to sexual communication and sexual satisfaction. However, not many interventions specifically and simultaneously target these two important aspects of romantic relationships. Furthermore, there are a lack of affordable and accessible psychoeducational interventions that provide opportunities for couples to gain basic knowledge about romantic attachment and sexual intimacy. To fill this gap, the authors of the current study took a 10-week, eight-session attachment-focused intervention (The Hold Me Tight Program: Seven Conversations for Connection), adapted it into a 1-day workshop, and focused on the role that attachment plays in sexual intimacy. Pilot data was collected to examine treatment feasibility, acceptability, and knowledge acquisition. In addition, exploratory efficacy data was analyzed with respect to changes in couple attachment patterns, sexual communication and satisfaction, and overall relationship satisfaction. Quantitative results revealed that participating couples showed increases in perceived knowledge acquisition and actual knowledge acquisition about concepts related to attachment and sexual intimacy. Qualitative and quantitative pilot data suggested movement in the expected direction for improvements in couples’ romantic attachment patterns, sexual satisfaction, sexual communication, and relationship satisfaction with a trend towards a statistically significant increase in sexual satisfaction.

Keywords

Couples therapy EFT Romantic attachment Hold me tight 
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Notes

Funding

This research was not supported by outside funding.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study, and all procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Drexel University Institutional Review Board

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© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Drexel UniversityPhiladelphiaUSA
  2. 2.Philadelphia Center for Emotionally Focused TherapyLafayette HillUSA
  3. 3.University of MinnesotaMinneapolisUSA

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