Attachment-Based Therapy in Burlington, Ontario

Understanding your attachment patterns. Healing at the root. Creating safer connections.

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If you find yourself repeatedly struggling with closeness, trust, emotional safety, or fear of abandonment, attachment-based therapy can help you make sense of these patterns without judgment or blame.

I’m Cierra DoCouto, an attachment and relationship trauma therapist in Burlington, Ontario, offering attachment-based therapy for adults who want to better understand themselves in relationships and develop more secure ways of connecting.


What Is Attachment-Based Therapy?

Attachment-based therapy is a relational, trauma-informed approach that explores how early caregiving experiences shape the way we relate to ourselves and others throughout life.

From this perspective, challenges such as:

  • Anxiety in relationships

  • Emotional withdrawal or avoidance

  • Difficulty trusting others

  • Fear of being “too much” or “not enough”

are understood as adaptive responses that once supported emotional survival.

Rather than trying to change these patterns through willpower alone, attachment-based therapy focuses on increasing awareness, emotional safety, and flexibility in how you relate.

Two people holding hands across a white table, with a gray mug filled with dark liquid nearby.

How Attachment-Based Therapy Can Support You

Attachment-based therapy may be helpful if you:

  • Notice recurring relationship patterns you don’t fully understand

  • Feel activated or shut down during emotional closeness

  • Struggle with self-worth in relationships

  • Experience strong reactions to perceived rejection or distance

  • Want to develop more secure, grounded connections

In therapy, we gently explore how these patterns developed and how they show up today, at a pace that respects your nervous system.

My Approach to Attachment-Based Therapy

My work is grounded in Internal Family Systems (IFS), relational therapy, and trauma-informed care. Sessions are collaborative, non-pathologizing, and guided by curiosity rather than pressure.

Attachment-based therapy with me may include:

  • Exploring relational triggers and emotional responses

  • Understanding protective strategies shaped by past relationships

  • Developing greater self-compassion and emotional regulation

  • Strengthening your capacity for connection and boundaries

This work does not promise specific outcomes, but it offers a supportive space to explore attachment patterns with care and clarity.