Passing your National Licensing Exam
Getting licensed can open up incredible opportunities, but the exam can seem daunting. Our podcasts make passing more achievable and even fun. Dr Hutchinson and Stacy’s energy and passion for this content will get you motivated and confident.
We break things down in understandable ways - no stuffiness or complexity and focus on the critical parts you need so your valuable study time counts. You’ll come away feeling like, “I can do this!” Whether it’s nailing down diagnoses, theoretical approaches, or applying ethics in challenging situations, we help you get into a licensed mindset. Knowledge domains we cover in these podcasts include:
Professional Practice and Ethics
Intake, Assessment, & Diagnosis
Areas of Clinical Focus
Treatment Planning
Counseling Skills and Interventions
Core Counseling Attributes
And, of course, the DSM-5-TR.
If you listen, you might surprise yourself at how much you absorb and enjoy it along the way. Take that first step – you’ll gain confidence and valuable skills and feel confident getting ready for your licensing exam!
Passing your National Licensing Exam
Attachment Theory
What if the fastest way to help a client change is to make safety unmistakable? We take you from Bowlby’s core ideas to concrete moves you can use tomorrow, showing how early bonds shape adult relationships, emotion regulation, and the choices people make under stress. Instead of memorizing terms for the licensure exam, we connect secure base behavior—proximity seeking, separation distress, and exploration—to what you can see and name in session.
We walk through the major attachment styles—secure, anxious preoccupied, dismissive avoidant, and fearful avoidant—and translate them into lived clinical patterns like protest, withdrawal, and deactivation. Then we map the treatment arc inside attachment‑based therapy and ABFT: build a strong alliance, explore injuries individually, invite caregivers into structured enactments, and consolidate gains across daily contexts. Along the way, we show how corrective emotional experiences, emotion labeling, mindfulness, and reflective functioning create new relational memories that hold under pressure.
Assessment matters for both practice and exams, so we cover the Adult Attachment Interview, Experiences in Close Relationships, the Relationship Scales Questionnaire, and how Strange Situation findings inform work with children. We also share pragmatic progress markers—more direct bids for support, quicker recovery after ruptures, and increased capacity to set boundaries without distancing. The throughline is simple and powerful: when clients experience dependable attunement, they risk new ways of relating, and resilience grows.
If this helped you connect the dots between theory and practice, follow the show, share it with a study buddy, and leave a quick review. Tell us which attachment‑based technique you’ll try this week—we’d love to hear what changes in the room.
If you need to study for your national licensing exam, try the free samplers at: LicensureExams
This podcast is not associated with the NBCC, AMFTRB, ASW, ANCC, NASP, NAADAC, CCMC, NCPG, CRCC, or any state or governmental agency responsible for licensure.
Welcome aboard, you awesome therapists. Prepare for a fun-filled licensure exam podcast where you'll rediscover all those theories you learned and forgot from so long ago in graduate school.
SPEAKER_01:Attachment theory, developed initially by John Bowe, centers on the foundational bond established between a child and their primary caregiver, which shapes patterns of relating and emotional regulation throughout the lifespan. Bowby posited that a secure, stable attachment with at least one caregiver is essential for a child's healthy development, providing the confidence to explore the environment, build social connections, and adapt to challenges. The core elements of attachment include proximity seeking, distress on separation, and the caregiver as a secure base. Clinically, individuals are observed for their attachment styles. Secure, anxious, preoccupied, dismissive avoidant, or fearful avoidant, which manifests in their relationships and coping strategies. A secure attachment style often presents as adaptive emotional expression and comfort and intimacy, whereas insecure attachment can lead to difficulties in trust, heightened dependency, or emotional detachment. The origins of maladaptive behavioral and emotional patterns are often traced back to disruptions or inconsistencies in early caregiving, resulting in relational anxiety or avoidance in adulthood. Attachment disturbances may underlie a wide range of mental health issues, including mood disorders, relational problems, and difficulties with emotion regulation. The theory's relevance extends beyond childhood as adult perceptions, behaviors, and interpersonal functioning are strongly influenced by early attachment experiences. Attachment-based therapy adopts an interpersonal trauma-informed framework aimed at repairing and strengthening the capacity for secure attachment. The therapeutic relationship is intentionally crafted to serve as a corrective emotional experience, offering clients a secure base from which to re-explore their attachment histories and update maladaptive schemas. The primary goal is to foster trust, emotional safety, and the ability to form fulfilling, reciprocal relationships. Therapy encourages the client to identify and understand patterns originating in their early caregiver relationships and to process the unmet needs or traumas that shaped these dynamics. Through the collaborative therapeutic alliance, clients are supported in reclaiming suppressed emotions and learning to communicate their needs authentically. And attachment-based interventions typically progress through structured phases, although the order and emphasis may differ depending on client needs. In family-based modalities, such as attachment-based family therapy, ABFT, therapy commences with the establishment of a therapeutic alliance, focusing on building trust and collaboratively setting goals. The next stage often involves individual sessions with clients to explore attachment injuries and prepare for deeper work on relational ruptures. Subsequent phases engage caregivers or significant others, helping them explore their own attachment histories and develop empathy and attuned responses. Critical to the treatment process is the enactment phase, where in-session dialogues facilitate the open expression of previously unspoken attachment needs and vulnerabilities. Process is iterative, guiding both clients and caregivers through corrective emotional experiences and fostering greater trust and security. The final stage emphasizes consolidating gains, supporting autonomy, and practicing new relational skills across contexts. Specific techniques in attachment-based therapy include narrative exploration, where clients are guided through their attachment history to identify unmet needs and emotional wounds. The use of corrective emotional experiences is fundamental, allowing clients to experience new relational dynamics with the therapist acting as a secure base. Enactment exercises, commonly used in family-based approaches, facilitate direct communication of attachment needs and foster empathic responses from caregivers. Role-playing, emotion labeling, and psychoeducation around attachment styles and dynamics are often employed. Therapists may utilize mindfulness and grounding exercises to help clients tolerate distress and remain present during discussions of vulnerable material. Reflective functioning is enhanced through exercises that encourage clients and caregivers to consider each other's internal experiences, thereby fostering empathy and understanding. Assessment in attachment-based therapy involves both formal and informal strategies to determine attachment patterns and progress in therapy. Therapists may use structured interviews, self-report questionnaires, or observational measures to evaluate attachment style and relational functioning. Instruments such as the Adult Attachment Interview, AAI, Experiences in Close Relationships, ECR, and Relationship Scales, questionnaire, are commonly used to assess attachment dimensions in adolescents and adults. For children, measures like the Strange Situation Procedure may be referenced or adapted. Goal evaluation is ongoing, relying on subjective reports of increased trust, secure relating, reduced distress, improved emotion regulation, and greater satisfaction in relationships. Therapists may solicit feedback from clients and family members regarding progress on collaboratively set goals, adjusting interventions as needed to foster secure attachment outcomes. So, to sum it up, what you'll need to know for your licensing exam, attachment theory provides a foundational framework for understanding the lifelong impact of early caregiver relationships on emotional and interpersonal functioning. The theory's therapeutic applications seek to repair attachment disruptions, offering clients corrective experiences that foster trust, autonomy, and emotional health. Interventions are structured, trauma-informed, and individualized, making attachment-based therapy particularly effective for those struggling with relational challenges stemming from insecurity or trauma in early life. The ultimate goal is to cultivate secure attachment patterns, strengthen relationships, and promote resilience and psychological well being across the lifespan. And remember, it's in there.
