Eli Harwood, LPC — “The Attachment Nerd”

Eli Harwood, LPC—widely known as The Attachment Nerd—is a licensed therapist, author, and educator with more than 17 years of clinical experience. She specializes in helping people heal relational trauma and build secure attachment in their families and partnerships. Eli has authored bestselling resources on attachment and parenting, co-directs the PASS Center and Attachment Labs, and previously taught at The Denver Family Institute. Through approachable videos, workshops, and programs, she shares science-backed, judgment-free tools with a global community of more than one million caregivers.

Eli Harwood, LPC—The Attachment Nerd—is a licensed therapist, author, and educator with over 17 years of clinical experience. She helps people heal from relational trauma and develop the skills needed to create secure attachment in their families, partnerships, and communities. Eli is the creator of multiple bestselling resources on attachment and parenting, blending evidence-based insight with practical tools that caregivers can actually use.

She co-owns and co-directs the PASS Center and Attachment Labs, and previously taught at The Denver Family Institute, where she specialized in trauma treatment from a systemic, attachment-informed lens. Online, Eli’s teaching reaches a worldwide audience of more than one million caregivers through her short videos, workshops, and monthly live Q&A sessions. Known for her warm “therapist-friend” voice, she brings humor and hope to difficult conversations. Her core mantra—connection over control, repair over perfection—offers families a hopeful and doable path forward.

Eli Harwood, LPC—known to many as The Attachment Nerd—is a licensed therapist, author, and educator who translates attachment science into practical, real-life tools. With more than 17 years of clinical experience, she has helped thousands of people process relational trauma and move toward secure patterns of connection in their families, partnerships, and communities.

Eli has authored multiple bestselling resources on attachment and parenting, blending neuroscience, clinical wisdom, and everyday strategies. She is also the co-owner and co-director of the PASS Center and Attachment Labs, organizations dedicated to making evidence-based care accessible to diverse families. She previously served on faculty at The Denver Family Institute, where she taught trauma treatment from a systemic, attachment-informed perspective.

Her teaching now reaches a global community of more than one million caregivers through videos, courses, workshops, and live events. Audiences describe her voice as warm, direct, and free of jargon—like a trusted therapist and friend rolled into one. Whether in print, online, or on stage, Eli’s core message remains the same: connection over control, repair over perfection.

She holds a B.A. from the University of Colorado and an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology, and is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Colorado. Eli lives in Colorado with her partner, three children, one cat, and a frankly extravagant number of plants. Fun fact: years ago, she won a pair of globes on The Price Is Right.