“Barbara Nicholson and Lysa Parker are seminal voices in the planetary conversation about how to create secure, enduring and healthy bonds with our children. Bonds that can last an entire lifetime.
Lysa and Barbara have blended both worlds of attachment theory and attachment caregiving into one cohesive message. The pathway to secure attachment in both its simplicity and nuance, is powerfully laid out in this book. Attached at the Heart is filled with knowledge, history, evidence and clarity in terms of what it means to nurture the foundation of secure attachment that we as parents ideally provide for our children. And for those of us who feel like we missed the boat in our past, they provide a map for how to heal and create secure connections in our adulthood. The emotional and psychological muscles this book encourages us to develop is nothing short of the answer to the epidemic of loneliness that we are experiencing in our “modern-day” culture. Knowing that we need relationships to survive, they carve out with great clarity what is asked of us as parents, and ultimately humans, to create lasting and enduring bonds that will last throughout our entire lifetimes. Applying the wisdom in this book is nothing short of revolutionary for the fulfillment of our birthright of connection and a sense of belonging.”
—Alanis Morissette, Grammy-award winning artist
Attached At The Heart is the foundation of the parenting style that most closely aligns with the instincts so many of us innately have as primate caregivers but are encouraged by an increasingly busy, convenience-based culture to shove down. API knew decades ago what the increasing evidence-based research is showing us: how we parent really does matter, and parenting according to the API principles most closely aligns us with how we are wired to parent, how our chil-dren are wired to be loved, and how our hearts know to attach. This book deserves a permanent place on our shelves and in our hearts. For the good of children and families everywhere, thank goodness for Attached At The Heart.
—Mayim Bialik, Ph.D., Neuroscientist, Author, Actress (Blossom, Big Bang Theory, Call Me Kat), Jeopardy! Host
“Attached at the Heart is a gift for all of us looking for practical information on how to strengthen the emotional connections in our families, a powerful and undeniable influence towards achieving a compassionate world.”
—Marian Tompson, CoFounder, La Leche League International
“In my mind, no two people anywhere on the planet have worked and sacrificed more than Barbara and Lysa to promote healthy and happy attachment relationships between mothers, fathers, and their infants. Their book provides careful and accurate if not cautious recommendations about infants and their caregivers that closely follow more balanced scientific findings—and not simply those that support their own personal philosophies or political agendas—a description accurately applied to more traditional medical authoritative associations. I recommend their book without hesitation and with much enthusiasm.”
—James J. McKenna, PhD, Director Emeritus, Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory, University of Notre Dame
“This thought-provoking anthology has been intelligently organized into eight principles that guide readers on a journey of discovery—sometimes reassuring and sometimes a reality check! The authors have managed to make a précis of academic research findings with a light touch and merge them with years of personal experience and of helping count-less parents through Attachment Parenting International (API).”
—Sir Richard Bowlby, Bt, son of Dr. John Bowlby, MD
“This is a wise and nurturing book for parents, helping them nurture their children according to their emotional and developmental needs. A much-needed guide to attuned parenting. I highly recommend it.”
—Harville Hendrix, PhD, coauthor with Helen LaKelly Hunt, Giving the Love That Heals: A Guide for Parents
“Attached at the Heart is the first book to present attachment theory in an accessible and contemporary way. Its eight principles are critical guideposts by which parents can light their way to a healthy relationship with their children.”
—Peggy O’Mara, editor and publisher emerita of Mothering magazine
“Attached at the Heart is a breathtaking wake-up call for parents and children everywhere. With stunning acuity, scientific insight, and a rare passion, authors Barbara Nicholson and Lysa Parker unlock the keys to creating compassionate, connected families.”
—Lu Hanessian, author of acclaimed memoir Let the Baby Drive: Navigating the Road of New Motherhood former NBC anchor/syndicated columnist and parent educator
“Attached at the Heart communicates an enormous spectrum of information that is valuable and inspirational to parents and professionals. It defines attachment parenting in the most comprehensive and profound way. Attached at the Heart is an indispensable primer for any new parent.”
—Isabelle Fox, PhD, Being There: The Benefits of a Stay-at-Home Parent
“Just as the breastfeeding world changed its message from benefits of breastfeeding to the harm of not breastfeeding. Attached at the Heart offers parents insight into the damage done to our children, our families, and our society by normative abusive parenting. Parents will read this book and understand how abusive parenting has been passed down for generations. Parents will get the help they need to break the cycle and create peaceful, loving families.”
—Barbara A. Hotelling, MSN, WHNP-BC, LCCE, CD (DONA), IBCLC Women’s health nurse-practitioner and former chairwoman of the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS)