Attachment Theory I

Geoff Goodman, Ph.D.

I. Bowlby’s Model of Attachment

A. Prolonged separation-- key feature of psychopathology1. “affectionless”2. stealing

B. Reactions to prolonged separation1. protest2. despair3. detachment

Continued…

C. Five attachment behaviors to elicit care and protection1. smiling2. crying3. clinging4. following5. sucking

Continued…D. Difference between object relations

and attachment theories1. object relations: goal= mother2. attachment: goal= physical proximity to mother3. later, in attachment theory, goal becomes felt security

E. Exploratory behavioral system1. activated when felt security prevails2. deactivated when caregiver is absent

F. Fear system

1. activates attachment system in response to natural cues of danger

a. unfamiliarityb. sudden noisec. isolation

2. deactivated when caregiver becomes available again

G. Patterns of affect regulation

1. down-regulate (avoidant)2. up-regulate (resistant)3. expectations of interactive attributes of

early caregivers influence these patterns

H. Additional differences between attachment and psychoanalytic theories1. use of ethology as a basis for human behavior2. emphasis on relationships over drives3. external environment privileged over internal world

Continued…

4. emphasis on empirical research over clinical case reports

5. de-emphasis on Oedipus complex6. de-emphasis on unconscious fantasy7. de-emphasis on biological vulnerability8. de-emphasis on bodily pleasures9. reduction of etiology of trauma to physical

separation10. temperament excluded as influence on

development of IWMs

II. Theory of Psychopathology

A. Developmental pathways model1. dismissing strategy-- overregulated,

dismissing of feelings, especially vulnerable feelings

2. preoccupied strategy-- underregulated, entangled in feelings, especially vulnerable feelings

3. unresolved “strategy”-- absence of strategy or controlling strategy to counteract vulnerable feelings

Continued…B. Activation strategy related to dialectic

between two different needs1. sense of relatedness (hyperactivated end of continuum)2. sense of autonomous identity (deactivated end of continuum)3. two types of depression

a. anaclitic-- need for approval (preoccupied)

b.introjective-- perfectionists (dismissing)4. attachment theory can help refine our predictions about psychopathology by focusing on representational differences

C. Disorganized/ unresolved attachment

1. caregiver’s lack of resolution of trauma < age 16

2. frightened or frightening caregiver behavior

a. dissociated behaviorb. angry, hostile behaviorc. mixed messages-- eliciting and

rejecting attachment (Lyons-Ruth et al., 1999)

D. Continuity of psychopathology

1. quality of care can change, but IWM stays the same (IWMs increasingly resistant to change)

2. representations are derived from expectations developed over time

3. caregiver behavior influences long-term development of infant’s physiological and behavioral regulatory systems that control stress responses (e.g., D infants and cortisol levels)

Continued…

4. psychopathology might serve adaptive function to regulate caregiver relationships and maximize felt security

5. lack of mentalization can disrupt relationships and reduce felt security, which further hinders mentalizing capacity

III. Advances in Attachment Theory

A. Karlen Lyons-Ruth1. relational diathesis model-- D attachment predisposes individual to further trauma2. direct and indirect disorganization related to later outcome

B. Morris Eagle

1. IWMs reflect fantasy as well as actual interactionsa.not temperament affecting actual careb.a temperament (fantasy) can influence

perception of that carec.but IWMs can control gene expression

2. Oedipal conflicts are a byproduct of insecure attachment

C. Jeremy Holmes

1. three prototypical pathologies of narrative capacity

a. clinging to rigid stories (dismissing)b. feeling overwhelmed by un-storied

experience (preoccupied)c. inability to find strong narrative to

contain traumatic pain (preoccupied)

2. treatment recommendations

a. story breaking-- rethinking narrative in more coherent fashion

b. story making-- elaborating on a healing story to enhance consciousness of one’s own mental life

c. dismissing patients-- need to break open self-contained narrative

d. preoccupied patients-- capturing confusion and overwhelmed feelings in narrative

e. unresolved patients-- finding narrative for traumatic pain

D. Arietta Slade

1. dynamics of attachment informs rather than defines intervention strategies

2. listening to linguistic cues and gaps in memories

3. functions of this close linguistic listeninga. suggests organizing events in early

developmentb. allows therapist to imagine patient’s earliest

experiences and how they impacted patient c. enhances therapist’s empathy by imagining

patient’s caregiving experiences concretely

Continued…

4. work with childrena. both present and past experiences are importantb. parents’ IWMs of relationships with own parents and with child modified

E. Alicia Lieberman1. relation of feeling states in current

relationships to feeling states with baby

2. internalized early experiences provide structural framework that influences experience of infant care

3. defensive process of infant complement those used by caregiver

4. developmental guidance and supportive treatment implemented with interpretive work

IV. Future Directions for Attachment Theory

A. Exploration of distortions in child’s perception of external world

B. Exploration of developmental variations in IWMs

C. Discontinuities in attachment classification related to different developmental periods

D. Dimensional nature of attachment categories (both secure and insecure aspects)

E. Goal of attachment behavior not just protection but also containment

F. Enrichment of attachment theory’s view of psychopathology with psychoanalytic ideas (e.g., Kernberg)