The Summer I Turned Pretty: A Therapist’s Take on Love, Attachment, and the Messiness of Growing Up
How Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah Teach Us About Boundaries, Self-Discovery, and Healing
If you’ve been anywhere near TikTok, Instagram, or your group chat lately, you know that The Summer I Turned Pretty has captured everyone’s hearts—and maybe even stirred up some complicated feelings of your own. The hit series isn’t just about summer romances and nostalgic vibes; it’s also a deep dive into attachment, identity, and emotional dynamics.
At Healing Space Therapy Collective, we often hear clients talk about this show in session—not just for the drama, but because it reflects real-life experiences around love, loyalty, family pressures, and personal growth. So let’s break down some of the themes a therapist sees when watching the love triangle that has us all hooked.
Belly + Conrad + Jeremiah: The Attachment Styles at Play
From a therapeutic perspective, the central love triangle is fascinating because it highlights different attachment patterns:
Belly: Torn between craving emotional safety and chasing passion, Belly represents the very real experience of navigating identity and worth in early relationships.
Conrad: Withdrawn and guarded, Conrad embodies traits of an avoidant attachment style—pushing people away when feelings get too intense.
Jeremiah: Open, warm, and emotionally available, Jeremiah shows tendencies of a secure attachment style, but even he struggles with boundaries when family dynamics get messy.
These patterns aren’t just TV drama—they’re common in therapy. We explore where attachment styles come from (often childhood experiences) and how they influence the way we choose, pursue, and protect relationships.
The Role of Family Dynamics and Grief
At its core, this isn’t just a love story. The series also explores loss, change, and family pressures—and how those shape our romantic decisions.
For Belly and the Fisher brothers, grief plays a central role. Losing Susannah creates emotional ripple effects for everyone. In therapy, we often talk about how grief can make relationships feel more urgent, fragile, or confusing. It can amplify patterns like:
Becoming overly dependent on others for comfort
Avoiding emotional closeness to protect against more pain
Struggling to set boundaries when family expectations are heavy
Past Life Regression Twist: Soul Connections or Old Patterns?
If we add a past life regression lens, the tangled relationships make even more sense. From this perspective, the intense push-and-pull between Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah could reflect unfinished emotional contracts from previous lifetimes.
Belly’s longing for belonging? Maybe she’s reliving an old story of searching for her identity.
Conrad’s avoidance? Perhaps he’s carried unresolved fears of loss across lifetimes.
Jeremiah’s warmth? Possibly a repeating role as the “anchor” in Belly’s emotional journey.
Whether you believe in past lives or see this metaphorically, it’s a powerful reminder that unhealed emotional patterns often repeat—until we consciously work through them.
Therapy as a Safe Space to Untangle Your Narrative
The show resonates so deeply because it mirrors experiences many of us have had: confusing love, shifting identities, family pressures, and growing up faster than expected. In therapy, we explore:
How early family dynamics shape relationship patterns
Why we’re drawn to certain partners or “love triangles”
How to set boundaries when emotions get overwhelming
Ways to regulate nervous system responses like jealousy, rejection, or grief
How to rewrite your narrative—whether in this lifetime or beyond
At Healing Space Therapy Collective, we offer individual therapy, teen counseling, and relationship-focused support in person in Aventura, Coral Gables, and virtually across Florida.
Ready to explore your own love story?
Whether you relate to Belly’s heartbreak, Conrad’s walls, or Jeremiah’s openness, therapy can help you understand your emotional patterns, heal past wounds, and create healthier relationships moving forward.
💬 Schedule a free consultation
🔎 Explore our therapy services
📲 Follow us on Instagram to catch our next blog and mental health tips.
