Secure Priming Therapy and Coaching — also referred to as Secure Therapy and Coaching — is a new treatment approach developed by Dr. Amir Levine that merges three fields of knowledge: clinical psychology, attachment science, and basic neuroscience.
It offers practical tools designed to align our thoughts and beliefs with how the brain actually works, drawing from secure priming strategies that have been proven in research to help people become more secure.
The five pillars of a secure life. Your brain continuously monitors the availability of important people. When they behave in CARRP ways, the radar stays quiet and you're free to live your life.
A regular rhythm of interaction brings comfort — not just to babies but to adults. Once you establish a baseline level of contact, your brain's attachment neurocircuitry becomes attuned to it. Any sudden change trips a physiological alarm.
You make a mental decision to be there for the people in your life when they reach out. This means accepting a personal commitment to stay connected and to take some responsibility for their well-being.
The practical outcome of being available. When people reach out, you respond as swiftly and consistently as you can.
The first step of two-step verification. It's not enough to believe you're consistent, available, and responsive — the other person has to actually feel it.
The second verification step. The other person can anticipate your actions — no ghosting, no going hot and cold. You can still throw a surprise birthday party — but you can't be erratic without warning.
CARRP isn't just about one relationship. Take inventory of all your relationships. Who is CARRP? Turn up the volume on those connections. Who isn't? Try a CARRP intervention, a small, specific, actionable request.
"Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity." — Simone Weil
Most people think improving relationships requires big gestures or deep therapeutic work. But some of the most powerful changes come from something much smaller.
A SIMI is any brief social interaction — a nod from a colleague, a text from a friend, a smile from a stranger. Individually, they seem trivial. But neuroscience reveals that SIMIs have the power to shape and reshape your brain. CARRP SIMIs create new neural pathways toward security.
The Cyberball effect — named after an experiment where participants were excluded from a virtual ball-tossing game — shows that even brief exclusion activates brain regions linked to pain and distress. Stillfacing — when someone is physically present but emotionally blank — is equally disturbing to the brain.
A coworker ignoring your greeting, a partner scrolling their phone while you're talking — all of these are everyday Cyberball and stillfacing moments that accumulate.
The antidote is to actively cultivate CARRP SIMIs: acknowledge people, respond to messages, include people rather than excluding them, be present in conversations. Every CARRP SIMI is an opportunity for a secure neuroplastic shift.
Secure Coaching focuses on specific, actionable interventions that happen in real time — as life unfolds.
The Secure Spiel — a key component of Secure Priming Therapy and Coaching where you actively learn to construct a secure narrative about yourself and others. Impediment inventories to identify what's blocking your secure potential. The Collaborative Assessment Scale to evaluate whether your relationships are truly collaborative. And techniques for uncovering hidden sparks of talent that insecurity may have obscured.
The Only One Person Rule: When someone you care about is upset, it's not the moment to air your own grievances. Focus on them first — you can address your concerns later.
The Mea Culpa Rule: If you can't take turns and are both upset, you are both to blame. A timely, genuine apology in this case is one of the most powerful CARRP behaviors.
Clinical reference cards, framework guides, and information about upcoming training.