Dyadic developmental psychotherapy

Dyadic developmental psychotherapy is a psychotherapeutic treatment method for families that have children with symptoms of emotional disorders, including complex trauma and disorders of attachment. It was originally developed by Arthur Becker-Weidman and Daniel Hughes as an intervention for children whose emotional distress resulted from earlier separation from familiar caregivers. Hughes cites attachment theory and particularly the work of John Bowlby as theoretical motivations for dyadic developmental psychotherapy.

Dyadic developmental therapy principally involves creating a "playful, accepting, curious, and empathic" environment in which the therapist attunes to the child's "subjective experiences" and reflects this back to the child by means of eye contact, facial expressions, gestures and movements, voice tone, timing and touch, "co-regulates" emotional affect and "co-constructs" an alternative autobiographical narrative with the child. Dyadic developmental psychotherapy also makes use of cognitive-behavioral strategies. The "dyad" referred to must eventually be the parent-child dyad. The active presence of the primary caregiver is preferred but not required.

A study by Arthur Becker-Weidman in 2006, which suggested that dyadic developmental therapy is more effective than the "usual treatment methods" for reactive attachment disorder and complex trauma, has been criticised by the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC). According to the APSAC Taskforce Report and Reply, dyadic developmental psychotherapy does not meet the criteria for designation as "evidence based" nor provide a basis for conclusions about "usual treatment methods". A 2006 research synthesis described the approach as a "supported and acceptable" treatment, but this conclusion has also proved controversial. A 2013 review of research recommended caution about this method of therapy, arguing that it has "no support for claims of effectiveness at any level of evidence" and a questionable theoretical basis.