Stick Work

Stick work is a somatic and relational process used in the Adult Attachment Repair Model to support nervous system regulation, boundary repair, and the re-patterning of early attachment wounds. Using a literal ‘stick’, the practice creates a structured, embodied experience that allows clients to engage with themes of protection, empowerment, and healthy connection in a safe and co-regulated environment.

In stick work, a practitioner often assumes a steady, grounded presence while the client explores their relationship to attachment. This interaction offers a somatic metaphor for meeting resistance, holding ground, and feeling into one’s own strength and limits—key components in repairing ruptured attachment patterns, especially those formed in early childhood. The process is about creating an alive, felt experience of agency, support, and mutual regulation.

Each session with the stick encodes a connective experience of secure attachment into the nervous system. Over time, each of these experiences of secure attachment begin to repair the attachment system resulting in a healthier relational lifestyle.