DOCSLIB.ORG

By Susana Farinha a Thesis Submitt

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
By Susana Farinha a Thesis Submitt Running head: INFLUENCE OF ATTACHMENT AND EMOTIONAL ATTUNEMENT IN THERAPY To what extent do Attachment and Emotional Attunement influence the Therapeutic Relationship? by Susana Farinha A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Counselling (MC) City University of Seattle Vancouver BC, Canada site May, 2018 APROVED BY: Colin Sanders, Ph.D., MA, RCC, Thesis Supervisor, Counsellor Education Faculty Christopher Kinman, PhD (student), MSc, MDiv, Faculty Reader, Counsellor Education Faculty Division of Arts and Sciences INFLUENCE OF ATTACHMENT AND EMOTIONAL ATTUNEMENT IN THERAPY ii Abstract The proposed research is intended to demonstrate that attachment and emotional attunement are key elements in forging and maintaining the therapeutic alliance. Therapeutic alliance, the bond between therapist and client, is a powerful factor in the process of emotional and psychological healing. Therefore, initiating and maintaining a good Therapeutic alliance is the foundation of therapy. The focus of this study is to understand the extent which attachment and emotional attunement influence the therapeutic relationship. KEY TERMS Attachment theory; attachment styles; emotional attunement; affect regulation; therapeutic relationship; therapeutic alliance; therapeutic process. INFLUENCE OF ATTACHMENT AND EMOTIONAL ATTUNEMENT IN THERAPY iii Acknowledgements I would like to thank all my teachers and fellow colleagues of cohort 18 for having generated multiple and deep reflections about counselling and life during these past two years. I would also like to thank all my clients for making this journey of counselling an exploration worth making. Being a witness of their journey has been an amazing adventure. INFLUENCE OF ATTACHMENT AND EMOTIONAL ATTUNEMENT IN THERAPY iv Dedication I would like to dedicate this Thesis to my dear husband who has been my most dedicated supporter and has encouraged me to always fight/look for what I want. He made all the necessary efforts so that I would arrive at the end. I would also like to dedicate it to my children. Like E.E. Cummings, I say “I carry your heart(s) with me, I carry it in my heart. I am never without it”. This is the strength that makes me go. INFLUENCE OF ATTACHMENT AND EMOTIONAL ATTUNEMENT IN THERAPY v Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iii Dedication ...................................................................................................................................... iv Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Attachment .................................................................................................................... 4 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 4 Attachment Theory ..................................................................................................................... 4 John Bowlby’s work ............................................................................................................... 5 Mary Ainsworth’s work .......................................................................................................... 8 The Biological Basis of Attachment ......................................................................................... 11 Attachment predictors ........................................................................................................... 11 Attachment Theory Expansion and Application to Other Fields .......................................... 11 Attachment and emotion regulation ...................................................................................... 11 Attachment Bond vs Affectional Bonds ................................................................................... 14 Attachment influence in adult emotional perception and expression ................................... 14 Reactive attachment .............................................................................................................. 17 Earned secure attachment ..................................................................................................... 17 “In a Different Voice” ........................................................................................................... 18 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 19 Chapter 3: Affect Regulation Theory ........................................................................................... 20 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 20 The Beginnings ..................................................................................................................... 20 INFLUENCE OF ATTACHMENT AND EMOTIONAL ATTUNEMENT IN THERAPY vi Affect .................................................................................................................................... 21 Additional Concepts .................................................................................................................. 24 The brain structures involved in regulating the affect .......................................................... 26 Primary Affect Regulating System ........................................................................................... 31 Secondary Affect-Regulating System ....................................................................................... 37 Affect Regulation and Attachment Theory ............................................................................... 40 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 43 Chapter 4: Therapeutic Relationship ............................................................................................ 44 Prologue .................................................................................................................................... 44 What is Therapeutic Relationship? ........................................................................................... 46 “On the shoulders of Carl Rogers” ....................................................................................... 48 What makes the client-therapist relationship so special? ..................................................... 48 A Selection of Authors who have Inspired Me ......................................................................... 54 Irving Yalom ......................................................................................................................... 54 The narrative studies and definitional ceremony in therapy ................................................. 57 The beauty and gentleness of Harlene Anderson .................................................................. 59 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 63 Chapter 5: Discussion ................................................................................................................... 64 Chapter 6: Conclusion................................................................................................................... 69 References ..................................................................................................................................... 70 INFLUENCE OF ATTACHMENT AND EMOTIONAL ATTUNEMENT IN THERAPY 1 Chapter 1: Introduction Because I feel that, in the Heavens above The angels, whispering to one another, Can find, among their burning terms of love None so devotional as that of ‘Mother’ – Edgar Allen Poe I started this Master’s of Counselling program with a past, tangled in the routines of the present but with little vision of a future. Looking back after almost three years, living in the present and envisioning the future were all playing together a symphony that, at times, didn’t seem harmonious. Now, at the end of this journey another question invades me: What thesis topic will I chose? What is important to me? What is my utmost passion? How will life look different when this program finishes? Difficult reflection. Even now, I am unsure of the answer, since there are many. Concerning the thesis topic, I decided by one aspect that for long is deeply part of myself: motherhood. It started as a wish whispered in my unconscious being, became a dream, and then a reality. Motherhood has been the longest, and most fascinating, adventure in my life. It has turned my life upside down, it has made me cry and fear as I never feared before; and rejoice as no other event had made me rejoice. I changed as a person. I grew, matured and I still feel that I am just at the beginning. When I became involved with helping professions, specifically mental health, I have been discovering the many similarities between being a mother and a therapist. INFLUENCE OF ATTACHMENT AND EMOTIONAL ATTUNEMENT IN THERAPY 2 Some aspects of the deep bond established between mother-child
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Constant Connection: College Students' Smartphones Attachment
    James Madison University JMU Scholarly Commons Educational Specialist The Graduate School Spring 2018 Constant connection: College students’ smartphones attachment and close relationship attachments across domains Angela M. Pezzella James Madison University Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/edspec201019 Part of the Counselor Education Commons Recommended Citation Pezzella, Angela M., "Constant connection: College students’ smartphones attachment and close relationship attachments across domains" (2018). Educational Specialist. 140. https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/edspec201019/140 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the The Graduate School at JMU Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Educational Specialist by an authorized administrator of JMU Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Constant Connection: College Students’ Smartphones Attachment and Close Relationship Attachments across Domains Angela M. Pezzella A Research Project submitted to the Graduate Faculty of JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Educational Specialist Department of Graduate Psychology May 2018 FACULTY COMMITTEE: Committee Chair: Lennis Echterling, Ph.D. Committee Members/ Readers: A. Renee Staton, Ph.D. Anne Stewart, Ph.D. Acknowledgments I would like to first thank my committee for their time, efforts, and expertise. To Anne Stewart, for her wealth of knowledge on attachment and her kind and giving spirit, and to Renee Staton for her fierce devotion to her students and social justice as well as her interest in families and development. To Lennie Echterling, for keeping me motivated and holding me accountable, for pushing me to challenge myself, and for his caring and dedication to not just my research, but me as a student and human.
    [Show full text]
  • Marital Satisfaction Among Newly Married Couples: Associations with Religiosity and Romantic Attachment Style
    MARITAL SATISFACTION AMONG NEWLY MARRIED COUPLES: ASSOCIATIONS WITH RELIGIOSITY AND ROMANTIC ATTACHMENT STYLE Jamie L. Haseley, B.S., M.A. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS December 2006 APPROVED: Shelley Riggs, Major Professor Tim Lane, Committee Member Mike McGuire, Committee Member Ed Watkins, Committee Member Vicki Campbell, Director of Counseling Psychology Program Linda Marshall, Chair of the Department of Psychology Sandra L. Terrell, Dean of the Robert B. Toulouse School of Graduate Studies Haseley, Jamie L., Marital satisfaction among newly married couples: Associations with religiosity and romantic attachment style. Doctor of Philosophy (Counseling Psychology), December 2006, 112 pp., 12 tables, 5 figures, 185 references. The marriage and family literature has identified a host of factors that contribute to a satisfactory marital union. For example, research on religious congruency has indicated that the more similar partners are in their religious beliefs the higher their reported marital satisfaction. Another construct studied in conjunction with marital satisfaction is adult attachment style. The attachment literature has consistently shown that secure couples tend to report higher marital satisfaction than couples with at least one insecure partner. The purpose of this study was to examine the combined role of religious commitment and attachment in marital satisfaction. Heterosexual couples (N = 184; 92 husbands, 92 wives) without children and married 1-5 years were administered a background information questionnaire, the Religious Commitment Inventory-10, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, and the Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory. Results indicated that couples with congruent religious commitment reported higher marital satisfaction than couples with large discrepancies in religious commitment.
    [Show full text]
  • COMMENTARIES Attachment, Caregiving, and Parental Investment
    Psychological Inquiry Copyright © 2000 by 2000, Vol. 11, No. 2, 84–123 Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. COMMENTARIES Attachment, Caregiving, and Parental Investment David C. Geary Department of Psychology University of Missouri at Columbia Bell and Richard’s position is very similar to Mac- gent on current conditions; for instance, if food is too Donald’s (1992) argument that attachment involves at scarce to ensure the survival or normal development of least two independent systems. The first is a fear-based offspring, then parents will often abandon these off- system that is essentially the same as that originally de- spring (Clutton-Brock, 1991). Stated somewhat differ- scribed by Bowlby (1969), and the second is a ently, from an evolutionary perspective, parental warmth-based system that is very similar to the investment is expected to be expressed contingent on caregiving system described by Bell and Richard. Both social (e.g., population density) and ecological (e.g., systems of attachment, as related to the parent–child availability of food) factors and on parental condition relationship, can be understood in terms of parental in- (e.g., health, social status). When parents invest in off- vestment (Trivers, 1972, 1974), as is described in the spring, some aspects of this investment are obligate, first section. The second section addresses a few mis- that is, essential for offspring survival, and other as- conceptions about evolution and proximate and ulti- pects may be expressed more conditionally, or mate causes. facultatively. For the latter, the investment may not be essential for survival, but if provided, it results in other Parental Investment benefits to offspring, such as an improvement in later social, and thereby reproductive, competitiveness.
    [Show full text]
  • Exploring Attachment Theory, Self Psychology, and Anti-Oppression Perspectives on Human- Companion Animal Relationships in the Rural West
    Smith ScholarWorks Theses, Dissertations, and Projects 2013 New questions, multiple meanings : exploring attachment theory, self psychology, and anti-oppression perspectives on human- companion animal relationships in the rural West Sarah H. Winchester Smith College Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.smith.edu/theses Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Winchester, Sarah H., "New questions, multiple meanings : exploring attachment theory, self psychology, and anti-oppression perspectives on human-companion animal relationships in the rural West" (2013). Masters Thesis, Smith College, Northampton, MA. https://scholarworks.smith.edu/theses/961 This Masters Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in Theses, Dissertations, and Projects by an authorized administrator of Smith ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Sarah H. Winchester New Questions, Multiple Meanings: Exploring Attachment Theory, Self Psychology, and Anti-Oppression Perspectives on Human-Companion Animal Relationships in the Rural West A Theoretical Study ABSTRACT In spite of burgeoning interest in the significance of human-companion animal relationships in social work and related fields, the theoretical conceptualization of these relationships in the context of mental health remains largely limited to the cross-species and cross-cultural application of Attachment Theory. Further, the literature on human-companion animal relationships through the lens of Attachment Theory reflects a narrow scope of research methodologies and demographic variables, thus leaving the unique, multiple meanings of these relationships – and their intersections with varying and marginalized sociocultural identities – largely unexplored. In order to address these gaps and expand theoretical discourse on the phenomenon, the thesis explores and analyzes human-companion animal relationships through the lenses of Attachment Theory and Self Psychology.
    [Show full text]
  • Theories of Attachment
    Theories of Attachment Sample provided by iActiveLearning.com, all rights reserved. Also by Carol Garhart Mooney Reflections on Parenting (New England AEYC) Theories of Childhood Use Your Words Sample provided by iActiveLearning.com, all rights reserved. Theories of Attachment An Introduction to Bowlby, Ainsworth, Gerber, Brazelton, Kennell, and Klaus Carol Garhart Mooney Sample provided by iActiveLearning.com, all rights reserved. Published by Redleaf Press 10 Yorkton Court St. Paul, MN 55117 www.redleafpress.org © 2010 by Carol Garhart Mooney All rights reserved. Unless otherwise noted on a specific page, no portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or capturing on any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a critical article or review to be printed in a magazine or newspaper, or electronically transmitted on radio, television, or the Internet. Photo credits: Photo of Mary Ainsworth courtesy of the Ferdinand Hamburg Archives of The Johns Hopkins University. Photo of John Bowlby courtesy of Sir Richard Bowlby. Photo of T. Berry Brazelton courtesy of the Brazelton Touchpoints Center. Photo of Magda Gerber courtesy of Linda Hinrichs. Photo of John Kennell and Marshall Klaus courtesy of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. All photos used with permission. First edition 2010 Cover design by Mayfly Design Interior illustration by Erin E. Mooney Printed in the United States of America 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Redleaf Press Editorial, Design, and Production Staff Editor-in-Chief: David Heath Managing Editors: Laurie Herrmann and Douglas Schmitz Acquisition/Development Editor: Kyra Ostendorf Creative Director: Jim Handrigan Production Editor: Laura Maki Production Assistant: Carla Valadez Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mooney, Carol Garhart.
    [Show full text]
  • 2020-Bristol Attachment and EMDR
    31/01/2020 EMDR intervention for adults with childhood insecure attachment & attachment trauma Bristol 31 st Jan & 1 st Feb Arun Mansukhani. PsyD. EMDR Consultant and Facilitator. 1 www .arunmansukhani .com Part of the information contained in these slides has been published in articles and book chapters that can be downloaded, as well as the slides, from: www.arunmansukhani.com/documentos These slides represents the presenters work. Please reference it if used. Thank you. Contact info: [email protected] +34 607803803. 2 31/01/2020 Contents of Workshop • Attachment theory. • Attachment from childhood to adulthood. • Trauma: evolution of the concept. Present definition of trauma. • Types of trauma: defense, attachment and beyond attachment: other affective systems that can be traumatized. • Assessing attachment issues. • EMDR and attachment: specific interventions and modifications in the standard protocol for individual and couple interventions. www .arunmansukhani .com 3 Attachment Theory B A C K G R O U N D www .arunmansukhani .com 4 31/01/2020 www .arunmansukhani .com Attachment Theory B A C K G R O U N D 5 THE NATURE OF THE CHILD'S TIE TO HIS MOTHER By JOHN BOWLBY , LONDON 1. An abbreviated version of this paper was read before the British Psycho-Analytical Society on 19th June, 1957. 2. Although in this paper I shall usually refer to mothers and not mother-figures, it is to be understood that in every case I am concerned with the person who mothers the child and to whom it becomes attached rather than to the natural mother. The Nature of Love Harry F.
    [Show full text]
  • Caregiver Sensitivity, Contingent Social Responsiveness, and Secure Infant Attachment
    JEIBI VOLUME 5 – NUMBER 1 Caregiver Sensitivity, Contingent Social Responsiveness, and Secure Infant Attachment Carl J. Dunst & Danielle Z. Kassow Abstract Findings from two research syntheses of the relationship between caregiver sensitivity and secure infant attachment and one research synthesis of factors associated with increased caregiver use of a sensitive interactional style are presented. The main focus of analysis was the extent to which different measures of caregiver contingent social responsiveness were important determinants of attachment outcomes. Results showed that caregiver interactional behavior that included some aspect of explicit contingent responsiveness was the best predictor of secure infant attachment, and that behavioral interventions that specifically targeted changes in this type in interactional style were most effective in changing caregiver behavior. Implications for practice are described. Key words: Secure infant attachment, caregiver sensitivity, contingent social responsiveness, interventions. A World Health Organization report (e.g., Richter, 2004) on the importance of caregiver-child relationships as a context for the growth and development of young children throughout the world noted that: Sensitive and responsive caregiving is a requirement for the healthy neurophysiological, physical and psychological development of a child. Sensitivity and responsiveness have been identified as key features of caregiving behavior related to later positive health and development outcomes in young children. (p. 1) One of the developmental consequences of sensitive and responsive caregiving is secure infant/adult attachment (Bowlby, 1988). Secure attachment is generally understood to be an affectional bond between an infant and an adult caregiver1 that has two elements: (1) the infant seeking out the attachment figure in times of distress and need and (2) the infant having the ability and confidence to engage in activities separate from the attachment figure (Ainsworth, 1989).
    [Show full text]
  • Attachment Theory)
    UNIT 2 RELATIONSHIP IN EARLY YEARS (ATTACHMENT THEORY) Structure 2.0 Introduction 2.1 Objectives 2.2 Relationship with Parents 2.3 Attachment Theory 2.3.1 Concepts and Terminology 2.3.2 Development of Attachment in Early Years 2.3.3 Internal Working Model of Social Relationships 2.4 Attachment Patterns 2.4.1 Secure Attachment 2.4.2 Avoidant Insecure Attachment 2.4.3 Resistant Insecure Attachment 2.4.4 Disorganised Attachment 2.4.5 Significance of Patterns 2.4.6 Factors Promoting Secure Attachments 2.5 Let Us Sum Up 2.6 Unit End Questions 2.7 Suggested Readings 2.0 INTRODUCTION You have probably come across people proclaiming that mothers must have immediate contact with their newborns if they are to become properly bonded with the baby. What is essential in the formation of an early bond is the opportunity for the parents and infant to develop a mutual, interlocking pattern of attachment behaviours. The baby signals her needs by crying or smiling, giving cues to the mother that she needs to be attended. Mother, in turn, responds with required care giving behaviours in that situation. In other words, mother and infant show distinctive patterns of interactive behaviours. Present unit emphasises that quality of relationship in early years of child gives rise to affectional bonds in which the presence of the caregiver i.e. mother adds a special sense of security, a safe base for the individual. 2.1 OBJECTIVES After reading this unit, you will be able to: identify the significance of child and parent relationship in early years; describe attachment; explain different models of attachment; classify different patterns of attachment; distinguish between secure and insecure attachments; 2 1 Development During Early analyse Judge the significance of patterns of attachment styles in day to day and Late Childhood life situation; and create factors promoting the secure attachment style.
    [Show full text]
  • Maternal Representations of Attachment As Affected by Conditions of Proximity and Separation Karen V
    Seton Hall University eRepository @ Seton Hall Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs) 2011 Maternal Representations of Attachment as Affected by Conditions of Proximity and Separation Karen V. Monaco Seton Hall University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations Part of the Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Monaco, Karen V., "Maternal Representations of Attachment as Affected by Conditions of Proximity and Separation" (2011). Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs). 1431. https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/1431 MATERNAL REPRESENTATIONS OF ATTACHMENT AS AFFECTED BY CONDITIONS OF PROXIMITY AND SEPARATION BY KAREN V. MONACO Dissertation Committee Olivia Lewis-Chang, Ph.D., Mentor Thomas Massarelli, Ph.D. Cheryl Thompson-Sard, Ph.D. Jill Harris, Ph.D. Submitted in Partial Fulfillment Ofthe Requirements for the Degree Doctor ofPhilosophy Seton Hall University 2011 ABSTRACT MATERNAL REPRESENTATIONS OF ATTACHMENT AS AFFECTED BY CONDITIONS OF PROXIMITY AND SEPARATION The nature of attachment in the human infant has been a topic of interest for some time. Maternal representations ofattachment, which describe the way a mother thinks about her infant, are crucial to the quality ofthe infant's developing attachment to his or her mother. What is known is that poor maternal representations ofattachment are related to poor infant attachment. The separation ofa mother from her infant, as occurs when an infant is admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Nursery, interferes with the natural reciprocity of maternal- infant behaviors. Maternal attachment behaviors have been studied with relation to such variables as the time the baby is held after birth, breastfeeding, skin-to-skin contact, and potential loss ofthe baby.
    [Show full text]
  • Attachment and the Development of Personality and Social Functioning
    Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Social Sciences 98 Attachment and the Development of Personality and Social Functioning MARI FRANSSON ACTA UNIVERSITATIS ISBN 978-91-554-8980-9 UPSALIENSIS ISSN 1652-9030 UPPSALA urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-221869 2014 Dissertation presented at Uppsala University to be publicly examined in Universitetshuset Sal IV, Biskopsgatan 3, Uppsala, Wednesday, 4 June 2014 at 13:15 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The examination will be conducted in Swedish. Faculty examiner: Rolf Holmqvist (Linköping University). Abstract Fransson, M. 2014. Attachment and the Development of Personality and Social Functioning. Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Social Sciences 79 pp. Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. According to attachment theory, the establishment of an attachment bond to a caregiver not only provides the infant with protection from danger, but also many other resources presumably beneficial to the child’s general psychological development. Although there is substantial empirical support for a link between attachment security and social functioning in childhood and adolescence, less is known about whether childhood attachment contributes to social functioning beyond adolescence. Similarly, attachment has been found predictive of broad aspects of a person’s functioning, but few attempts have been made to link attachment to the currently dominating perspective on personality, the Five Factor Model (FFM). Results in Study I partially supported our expectations, by showing prospective links from middle childhood security to various aspects of social functioning in young adulthood. Further, security contributed to developmental change in social functioning from middle childhood to young adulthood.
    [Show full text]
  • Developmental and Social Antecedents of Stalking
    Developmental and Social Antecedents of Stalking Kristine K. Kienlen, Psy.D. Stalking is generally defined as an individual's persistent unwanted pursuit or obsessional harassment of another person, causing him or her fear of bodily injury. Based on two precursory studies of this population (Meloy & Gothard, 1995; Zona, Sharma, & Lane, 1993), Meloy (1996) coined the clinical term "obsessional follower" to describe "a person who engages in an abnormal or long-term pattern of threat or harassment directed toward a specific individual" (p. 148). While stalking behavior may be manifested by seemingly benign gestures (e.g., gifts, letters) meant to be symbols of the stalker's affection, the victim reacts in fear due to the stalker's inability or unwillingness to accept the reality that the victim is uninterested in a relationship. Even legal interventions, such as restraining orders prohibiting the stalker's contact with the victim, are often ineffective deter- rents to the stalker's behavior. Repeated rejection by the victim may lead to escalation of the stalker's behavior to overt threats or violence (e.g., assault, rape, murder) toward the victim. Sometimes third parties such as friends and family members are perceived as impeding the stalker's relationship with the victim and may also be targets of violence. Although stalkers often pursue a former intimate partner or casual acquain- tance to seek an amorous relationship, other stalkers harass strangers or acquaintances for hostile, paranoid, or delusional reasons (Harmon, Rosner, & Owens, 1995; Kienlen, Birmingham, Solberg, O'Regan, & Meloy, 1997; Meloy & Gothard, 1995). 51 The Psychology of Stalking: Clinical and Forensic Perspectives Copyright 9 1998 by Academic Press.
    [Show full text]
  • Attachment Theory 1 Attachment Theory
    Attachment theory 1 Attachment theory Attachment theory is a psychological, evolutionary, and ethological theory concerning relationships between humans. The most important tenet of attachment theory is that a young child needs to develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for social and emotional development to occur normally. The theory was formulated by psychiatrist and psychoanalyst John Bowlby.[1] Within attachment theory, infant behaviour associated with attachment is primarily the seeking of proximity to an attachment figure For infants and toddlers, the "set-goal" of the attachment behavioural system is to in stressful situations; the caregiver. Infants maintain or achieve proximity to attachment figures, usually the parents. become attached to adults who are sensitive and responsive in social interactions with them, and who remain as consistent caregivers for some months during the period from about six months to two years of age. During the latter part of this period, children begin to use attachment figures (familiar people) as a secure base to explore from and return to. Parental responses lead to the development of patterns of attachment; these, in turn, lead to internal working models which will guide the individual's feelings, thoughts and expectations in later relationships.[2] Separation anxiety or grief following the loss of an attachment figure is considered to be a normal and adaptive response for an attached infant. These behaviours may have evolved because they increase the probability of survival of the child.[3] Research by developmental psychologist Mary Ainsworth in the 1960s and 70s underpinned the basic concepts, introduced the concept of the "secure base" and developed a theory of a number of attachment patterns in infants: secure attachment, avoidant attachment and anxious attachment.[4] A fourth pattern, disorganized attachment, was identified later.
    [Show full text]