IAT-Certified Attachment Therapist
The teen years are your most powerful window for repair.
I help fathers and parents repair attachment with their teenagers. The work reaches the wounds beneath the conflict; it’s grounded in over a decade of clinical practice in Los Angeles.
The Work
Most people I work with aren't broken — they're adapted.
What looks like emotional unavailability, withdrawal, or conflict is almost always an attachment strategy that once made sense. The goal isn't to fix what's wrong with you. It's to repair the foundation underneath — so that security stops being something you perform and starts being something you feel.
I work using Integrative Attachment Therapy (IAT) and the Ideal Parent Figure Protocol: a research-backed method developed by Dr. Daniel P. Brown and Dr. David Elliott, and now carried forward through IAT. I trained directly with Drs. Brown and Elliott and bring the full Three Pillars framework to private practice.
Ways to Work Together
Find the right fit
Individual Therapy for Men & Fathers
One-on-one IAT work for men carrying old attachment patterns into their relationships and their parenting. The Three Pillars method, tailored to your history and what you want to change.
Parent Support Groups
National, Zoom-based groups for parents of teens. Attachment-informed, practical, capped at 12. $60 per session.
Couples and family work also available. See all services →
Daily Practice
waybackhome.app
A free daily practice for parents of teens. The five conditions of secure attachment, distilled into a short morning ritual. Use it on its own or alongside the book.
Open the App
Now on Audible · Paperback · Kindle
The Way Back Home
Healing Attachment Wounds With Your Teen
A practical guide for parents navigating the hardest years of the parent-child relationship — grounded in the same IAT framework at the center of my clinical practice.
If your teenager is pulling away, shutting down, or pushing you out — this book explains why, and what to do about it.
Featured in Lion’s Roar
Selected essays
Lion’s Roar
Parenting Teens with Presence
Five ways to support and connect with your teenage children.
Lion’s Roar
How to Be Honest With Yourself
False positivity erodes truth and intimacy. A path toward honesty.
Lion’s Roar
The Nine Breaths of Purification
A short Bön practice to clear the mind and reconnect with the body.
"Daniel Ahearn has done something rare — he has translated a sophisticated clinical model into language that parents can actually use."
— Dr. David Elliott, PhD · Co-developer, Integrative Attachment Therapy
Organizational Consulting
Working with treatment organizations and clinical teams
I consult with residential treatment programs and clinical teams on attachment-informed culture, staff retention, and therapeutic programming. Drawing on my role as Director of Culture at Ascend Healthcare and a decade in adolescent residential treatment.
Organizations & Teams