Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love

Dr. Sue Johnson (1947-2024) was a Canadian clinical psychologist, researcher, and professor best known as the primary developer of Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), one of the most empirically validated approaches to couples counseling. Trained in clinical psychology at the University of British Columbia, Johnson was strongly influenced by John Bowlby’s attachment theory, which argued that secure emotional bonds are a basic human need rather than a developmental phase to be outgrown. Building on this foundation, she argued that romantic love should be understood as an attachment bond analogous to the “secure base” between parent and child.

Johnson’s clinical and academic career consistently reinforced this perspective. She was a professor emeritus of clinical psychology at the University of Ottawa and the founder of the International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT). Her work has been widely disseminated through training institutes, academic publications, and public-facing texts like Hold Me Tight, which translates the insights of EFT into accessible language for a general audience.

Placing Johnson’s work in context helps readers understand why Hold Me Tight emphasizes emotional responsiveness as the key to relationship health. For Johnson, love is not a purely cultural construct but a biological survival mechanism. Her voice in the book alternates between that of a researcher, a therapist, and a cultural critic, underscoring both the scientific basis of her claims and their practical implications for couples navigating intimacy. This authorial context allows readers to see the book as a manual for understanding romantic love in new, attachment-centered terms.