The Three Pillars Method came out of 3 decades of research and development. In the main book (Attachment Disturbances for Adults, 2016) there are studies cited where the method led to the Secure Attachment classification on the AAI. Also other measures such as for depression and dissociation have been found to have decreased after a trajectory in this method. The capacity for mentalizing was also found to have increased.
In 2017 Federico Parra (therapist and trainee of Dan P. Brown), Carol George and colleagues did a study using this method in working with people with cPTSD. They had impressive results.
In May 2025 Federico Parra asked his clients with attachment insecurity issues to fill in an online survey. Among those who practiced the method intensively for a few weeks (50 people), 82% reported improvements in their love life, 74% an increase in self-esteem, and 84% better emotional regulation. For those who continued the method for several months (22 people), 91% noted progress in their love life, 91% in self-esteem, and 100% improved emotional regulation.
On the website of a fellow IPF Facilitator, he gathered studies and science about attachment in one place. It could be interesting to have a look at. Also see ‘Celebrating more than 26.000 Adult Attachment interviews’ (2025), for an overview of attachment distribution on a wider scale and associations with other mental health issues.
In the ‘Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation from Birth to Adulthood,’ Alan Sroufe and his team followed around 200 babies from before they were born (in the 70s) until the present. They studied their development, measuring as much as they could at different stages. What they found was that the nurture aspect (relationships and environment) made a crucial difference for development, suggesting it’s more important than other factors. Some highlights for me from their book “The Development of the Person” (2009):
– Development is coherent and lawful. The continuity as well as changes are predictable. They could relate most (if not all), to changes in the environment and/or in the lives of their parents.
– Experience creates representation (the Inner Working Models), which in turn shapes and influences experience. (ie, someone who experienced rejection will subsequently expect it).
– Resilience and personality are an outcome of development.
Dutch psychiatrist Christiaan Vinkers published the book ‘Littekens uit je jeugd’ (Scars from childhood, 2026) estimating that about 85% of (severe) mental health issues stem from childhood wounds. He named it “the biggest invisible problem in the (Dutch) Public Health.”
still from the film ‘Sentimental Value’ (2025)
Resources:
Attachment Disturbances for Adults. A Comprehensive treatment for Repair.
(Dan P. Brown, David S. Elliott & co, 2016).
“A major breakthrough in treatment. It should be required reading by every mental health clinician and provider as a basis of treatment.”
Psychologytoday.com
Secure Relating. Holding your own in an insecure world.
(Sue Marriott & Ann Kelley, 2024).
Imagining the way to self compassion using IPF.
Psychotherapy.net
I love you keep going with George Haas.
Podcast by founder of Mettagroup and one of the most experienced facilitators out there.
IAT Institute resources page