Emotional Safety is designed to help couple therapists identify and conceptualize the problems of their clients and to provide solutions, focusing on the two central elements of emotion and attachment.

Problems occur in relationships when the partners no longer feel safe being open and vulnerable with each other. Emotional Safety: Viewing Couples Through the Lens of Affect enables couple therapists to recognize and articulate the emotional subtext of their clients' interactions. The emotional safety model is based on modern affect theory and focuses on the affective tone of messages in the areas of attachment and esteem. The model allows therapists to address the subtle interplay of perceived threat and emotional reaction which underlies their clients' difficulties and disrupts emotional safety.

Don R. Catherall is Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Northwestern Medical School

Forward. Preface. Acknowledgements. Part I:Theory and Foundation. The Problem. The Language of Affect. Realms of Affect: Attachment and Esteem. Realms of Emotion: View of Self and Other. Mapping the Terrain of the Emotional Relationship. Why Partners Matter: The Power of Affective Resonance. Why Esteem Matters: The Power of Shame and Pride. How Emotions Operate: Scripts of Self and Other. Part II: Clinical Applications. The Core Components of Relationship Problems. Patterns of Maladaptive Responses. Identifying the Problem. Establishing Safety. Maintaining Esteem. Repairing Damaged Esteem. Maintaining Attachment Security. Healing Attachment Injuries. The Emotional Safety Model.