On October 22-24 we attended another great conference, Imago Relationships International (IRI), and listened to many brilliant clinicians speak about attachment theory and how this applies to their work with couples. Imago therapy is based on the work of Dr. Harville Hendrix and his wife, Dr. Helen Hunt, and Dr. Hendrix’s book, Getting the Love You Want, a Guide for Couples. Their parenting book, Giving the Love That Heals, A Guide for Parents, is another important resource for AP parents, as it discusses the importance of couples being very conscious in their parenting decisions, including getting in touch with their own childhood histories. As we know, we often parent the way we were parented, and being conscious of that will help us make better choices if needed with our own children.

It was exciting, rewarding, and inspirational to meet and renew friendships with so many Imago therapists. We sold out of our books, and felt that we really made a deep connection with so many like-minded professionals, even though some of them had never heard of Attachment Parenting! Although Dr. Hendrix endorsed our book, and we conducted an interview with him on the phone (that is posted on our website) this was the first time to meet him face to face. He and IRI are very interested and supportive of developing a partnership with API, so that more Imago therapists will be aware of our work, and network with local API groups. We hope that our AP community will see the value of strengthening their relationships…that couples need help with learning good communication skills, and modeling this for their children.

Ultimately, we have a shared vision of a more peaceful world, through loving, empathic communication.  If we can teach those skills to our children (and model it with our partners), and teachers are taught how to practice this in the classroom, and world leaders are taught how to dialogue in government, what a joyful world it would be!