Dr. Amir Levine Explains How to Develop a Secure Attachment Style

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 18:18:00 +0200

Dr. Amir Levine, associate professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University, explores how attachment styles shape relationships and emotional well-being in his latest book, “Secure: The Revolutionary Guide to Creating a Secure Life.” Building on his earlier bestseller, “Attached,” Levine identifies four primary attachment styles—secure, anxious, avoidant, and fearful avoidant—and explains how these patterns affect intimacy, communication, and responses to perceived threats in relationships. People with secure attachments feel comfortable with closeness and have higher self-worth, while those with anxious attachment fear rejection and may overanalyze interactions. Avoidant individuals tend to distance themselves to maintain independence, and fearful avoidant people struggle with conflicting desires for intimacy and self-protection. Levine emphasizes the CARRP framework—consistency, availability, responsiveness, reliability, and predictability—as the foundation for secure relation