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Attachment Theory:
AnOverview
Attachment Description Variant of object relations Initially focused on development
of affectional ties between infants and caregivers
Now explains role of attachment across the life span
Supported by considerable empirical research
Understanding of Problems
Psychological problems stem from: Deficits in relationships Deficits/distortions in internal
representations of self, others and relationships
Stresses the need to be close to another person, even as an adult
This need is not pathologicalFrustration of this need can lead to
depression and anxiety
Conception of Therapeutic Intervention
The role of the therapist is to provide “the conditions in which his patient can explore his representational models of himself and his attachment figures with a view to reappraising and restructuring them in the light of the new understanding he acquires and the new experience he has in the therapeutic relationship” (Bowlby, 1988, p. 138).
Conception of Therapeutic Intervention
Insight, from an attachment standpoint, is deemed to be important in terms of understand the nature of one’s internal working models of self, others, and relationships.
Insight is not seen as sufficient to produce lasting change.
Effective psychotherapy must also provide a corrective attachment experience or a new kind of relationship that is therapeutic in itself.
Central Theoretical Constructs
Secure Base
Responsive caregivers provide a secure base from which individuals can explore and freely apply
Individuals who do not experience responsive parenting can be helped through later relationships that provide the experience of a secure base
Internal Working Model
Patterns of attachment, once formed, tend to endure
Children develop inner representational models of themselves and others
Inner models become unconscious Guide feelings and expectations
about self and others, and behavior in relationships with others
Attachment Behavior
Any form of behavior that results in a person attaining or maintaining proximity to some other clearly identified individual who is conceived as better able to cope with the world.
Biological function is protection, and when it is adequately responded to, the individual’s subjective experience is one of security.
Attachment Behavior
Attachment behavior includes: Clinging to caregivers when scared Protesting caregivers’ departure Following caregivers when able Greeting caregivers’ return
When children’s attachment behaviors are adequately responded to, they move freely away from care- givers and explore the environment.
Attachment Behavior Adults, especially when ill, fatigued, or
overwhelmed by life events, also seek proximity to an attachment figure, who is often a sexual partner as well
Characteristics of adult attachment relationships
Proximity seeking Secure base effect Separation protest Anticipated permanence of the relationship Reciprocity
Patternsof
Attachment
Adult Patterns of Insecure Attachment
3 patterns of insecure attachment
Anxious attachment
Compulsive self-reliance
Compulsive caregiving
Anxious Attachment
Clings to attachment figure and constantly seeks proximity
Such individuals experienced interruptions of care by the primary
attachment figure substitute care that failed to provide one
primary caregiver threats of abandonment
Compulsive Self-reliance
Act as if they do not need others for affection or assistance
Parenting style was one of repeated rejection
Child learns attachment behaviors lead to rejection and are dangerous
Attachment system is deactivated
Compulsively Caregiving
Always place themselves in the nurturing role
Caregiver welcomed being cared for and perhaps expected help in caring for siblings
Allows for proximity to caregiver
Patterns of Insecure Attachment in Children
Insecure-avoidant Insecure-ambivalent Disorganized
Secure
Explore the unfamiliar but frequently return to mothers
Cry when mother leaves the room; greet mother with pleasure upon return
Easily comforted when mother returns
Insecure-Avoidant
Explore new environment without checking on mother’s presence
Appear not to be affected when mother leaves
Avoid looking at or coming close to mother when she returns
Insecure-Ambivalent
Cling to mothers; afraid to explore new environment
Extremely agitated and cry nonstop when mother leaves
Seek contact when mother returns Often arch away from mother and
seem angry Resist all efforts to be soothed
Disorganized
Exhibits a diverse array of conflicted behaviors
Rocking on hands and knees with face averted after an abortive approach
Freezing all movement, arms in the air, with trance-like expression
Moving away from the parent to lean on the wall when frightened
Rising to meet the parent, then falling prone
Adults’ Internal Working Models of Attachment that
Correspond
To Attachment PatternsIn Children
Adult Attachment Interview
Assesses adult’s state of mind in respect to attachment
Postulated to be reflective of the adult’s internal working model of attachment
Parents of Securely Attached Children
Tend to value attachment Tend to value attachment relationships and are able to relationships and are able to discuss experiences in coherent discuss experiences in coherent wayway
Such adults are labeled Such adults are labeled AutonomousAutonomous
Parents of Insecure-Avoidant Children
Tend to have difficult recalling events of childhood
Dismiss childhood events Narratives usually reflect claims of
strength, normalcy, and independence
Lack coherence Classified as “dismissing”
attachment
Parents of Insecure-Ambivalent Children
Tend to produce long, confusing narratives
Narratives reflect mental entanglement or unresolved anger
Difficulty in coherently describing attachment-related experiences
Classified as “preoccupied” with or by early attachments
Parents of Children Judged Disorganized
Significantly more likely than other parents to be classified as “unresolved” with respect to loss or trauma
May have lapses in the monitoring of reasoning or discourse, or reports of extreme reactions during discussion of events
Developmental Pathways Many pathways that lead to mental
health and adaptive functioning Many routes to pathology and
maladaptive outcomes Potential for change continues
throughout the life cycle Optimistic view about human capacity
to respond to the experience of a secure base and the possibility of altering internal working models that have inhibited behavior.
Engagement
Therapists establish themselves as a secure base
Act as trusted companion Therapist is often in a natural
position to become an attachment figure for client
Data Collection/Assessment and Intervention
Central task is to encourage clients to examine ways in which they relate to significant people in their present life
Assumption is people often unconsciously act in ways that contribute to later distress
Data Collection/Assessment and Intervention
Therapists help clients consider how current expectations, perceptions, and feelings are influenced by early experiences with parents or by what significant others told them
Painful process to consider ideas and feelings that were previously “unthinkable”
Emotional problems stem from understandable human responses to what clients actually experienced or were told
Data Collection/Assessment and Intervention
Encourage clients to think about what may have motivated their caregivers to behave as they did
Does not encourage “parent bashing”
Supports increased understanding and working through of the complexity of one’s experiences, thoughts, and feelings
Data Collection/Assessment and Intervention
Therapist’s goal is to help clients recognize where their internal models (cognitive and affective) are not appropriate to the present or the future
Clients need to be encouraged to let go of the old and formerly unconscious perceptions and expectations.
Clients need to think, feel, and act in new ways based on models compatible with their current life
ReferenceReference
Stalker, C.A. (2001). Attachment theory. In Lehmann, P. & Coady, N. (Eds.). Theoretical perspectives for direct social work practice: A generalist-eclectic approach. New York: Springer Publishing Company.