About Us
A Laboratory for Learning How to Love Well
The Attachment Laboratory exists because we believe that healthy, secure relationships are not reserved for the lucky few. They are built—moment by moment—through practices anyone can learn.
Our Mission
Too many people believe they are broken. Too many couples think their relationship is beyond repair. Too many families carry patterns of disconnection that feel permanent.
We are here to say: that is not the whole story.
The Attachment Laboratory was created to make the science and practice of secure attachment accessible to everyone—not just in a therapist's office, but in kitchens, living rooms, churches, schools, and friendships.
We teach people how to create Attachment Moments: the small, repeated relational experiences that build safety, trust, and deep connection over time.
Vision
A world where every person has access to the knowledge and practice of secure attachment—where connection is a skill, not just luck.
Core Belief
Secure attachment is not built by perfect relationships. It is built through repeated moments of safety, attunement, delight, repair, and truth.
Why "Laboratory"
A laboratory is a place where you learn by doing. We are not here to lecture. We are here to help you practice—to try, to fail, to repair, and to grow.
The Problem We See
Most people were never taught how to build safe, connected relationships. We learn math, science, and grammar—but almost nothing about the emotional and relational skills that determine the quality of our closest bonds.
And when relationships struggle—when we feel stuck in painful cycles, when shame tells us we are too much or not enough, when we cannot seem to stop hurting the people we love most—we often assume something is fundamentally wrong with us.
The truth is different. Most relational pain is not about being broken. It is about never having learned the moments that build trust, safety, and emotional closeness. Attachment research shows us exactly what those moments look like. And they can be practiced.
Meet the Founder
Joe McKinney, LCSW
Licensed Clinical Social Worker • Missouri
Joe is a trauma therapist and couples therapist based in Southwest Missouri. His work sits at the intersection of mental, emotional, relational, and physical health—because he has seen firsthand that these things cannot be separated.
Trained in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), EMDR, Progressive Counting, Brainspotting, AEDP, and trauma-informed yoga, Joe brings a wide toolkit to the therapy room. But more than technique, what drives his work is a deep belief that the quality of our relationships is the single most important factor in our wellbeing.
Joe is also the founder of Forged Counseling and Adventure Therapy of the Ozarks. He created The Attachment Laboratory because he wanted the framework he uses with clients—Attachment Moments—to be available beyond the therapy room. In courses, in communities, in churches, in homes.
"I keep coming back to the same thing: when people learn what secure attachment actually looks like in practice—not as a theory, but as a series of small, real moments—everything shifts. Their marriages, their parenting, their friendships, even their relationship with themselves. That is what the lab is for."
Ready to Start?
Whether you want to learn the framework, join a course, or begin therapy—there is a next step for you.