Attachment Theory

Attachment Theory

Mahler Mahler set out the pioneering the task of conceptualizing childhood psychosis from a psychoanalytic viewpoint. Her method rested on observations of the interactions of mothers and their babies. Best described as a developmentalist b/c she and fellow researchers have used object relations concepts to focus on the psychological birth of the infant.

Mahler • Key concepts: • Symbiosis • Separation • Individuation • Identity formation • Three developmental phases: • Normal autism • Normal symbiosis • Separation and Individuation

Mahler • Normal autism • Image of a bird’s egg as a model of infant’s closed psychological system. • First stage is objectless. • Infant slowly realizes need satisfaction is not self-contained. • Normal symbiosis • The shell begins to crack • The infant functions and behaves as though she and the mo. were an omnipotent system, a dual unity.

Mahler • Normal symbiosis cont. • Shift from inside the body to the periphery. • Infant gradually differentiates between pleasurable and good experiences and painful and bad experiences. • 3rd month is dew point for the crystallization of feeling of self, around which a sense of identity will be formed.. • Switch from biological to psychobiological.

Mahler • Separation and Individuation • Two simultaneous paths of development. • Individuation is characterized by evolving intrapsychic autonomy. • Separation is characterized by psychological differentiation, distancing, and disengagement from the mo. • In order to achieve these developmental milestones he needs the presence of, and the emotional availability of the mother.

Mahler • Four developmental subphases of individuation and separation: • Differentiation and body image • Also called “hatching” • Practicing • Crawling and walking w/support • The less satisfying or more parasitic the symbiotic phase, the more exaggerated will be the negativistic reaction, the declaration of independence

Mahler • Four subphases cont. • Rapprochement • Increased sense of independence as well as dependency • Rapprochement crisis: shadowing and darting • Maternal unavailability can result in energy depletion of the ego, reversion to earlier splitting mechanisms, while serious developmental arrest can result in pathological narciscissm and borderline phenomena.

Mahler • Fourth subphase: Emotional object constancy and individuality, • Emotional object constancy depends on a positive inner image of the mother that supplies comfort to infant in her absence. • Differs from Piaget (inanimate object) • Unfolding of complex cognitive functions, and verbal communication. • Superego precursors begin to develop.

Attachment Theory John Bowlby, Deborah Ainsworth Attachment theory is a reaction against object relations theory and practice Secure emotional attachment between persons is basic to human health across the lifespan Attachment theory is powerful tool in conducting marital therapy (EFT)

Attachment Theory • John Bowlby • trained with Melanie Klein • was a child psychiatrist • impressed by the impact of real events on personality formation • his theory of attachment was developed from observations in the field, clinic, and experimental situations

Attachment Theory • Bowlby asserts that the initial tie of child to mother is not concerned with food • child is seeking emotional attachment • He asks “What is the nature of the tie that when it is ruptured it leads to problematic reactions?” • answer is based on experimental research

Attachment Theory • Field observation • mother is “secure base” for child to explore from • about 3 movements away and back from mother in a 10 minute span • If a child is anxious, he or she will not explore the environment • securely attached children explore world

Attachment Theory • If mother fails to respond to child upon return, child will not further explore • The need for a secure base, from which to explore, is needed all of our lives • “a home to go back to” • if home or attachment figure is in danger one will not be emotionally present

Attachment Theory • How we start we tend to go on • the pattern of attachment formed by 12 months is generally present at age 5 • this can change if a responsive presence is available (cure in therapy) • usually stays the same because a depressed or anxious mother keeps same style of relating in play • Developmental tilt (Mitchell) • don’t neglect what happens later in life

Attachment Theory • Why keep proximity to mother? • in aid of safety • a good companion who will care for you in an emergency • persons jumping together on 9/11 • A good mother (or caregiver) will be available, accessible, and responsive • consistent enough in these responses

Attachment Theory • Anxiety is not about danger, it is about the risks of danger • the risk of losing attachment tie (separation) • risk of coming danger is greater if alone rather than not alone • Three attachment styles based on Ainsworth: field studies, home, and lab

Attachment Theory • 3 attachment styles • securely attached • anxiously ambivalently attached • anxiously avoidantly attached

Attachment Theory • Securely attached • child will explore the world • if mother leaves, child’s activity will be organized • will welcome mother upon return and is comforted • will return to play again

Attachment Theory • Anxiously ambivalently attached • child doesn’t explore surround • will collapse and do nothing if mother disappears • is ambivalent about mother’s return • wants to be comforted by her and doesn’t want to be comforted by her

Attachment Theory • Anxious avoidantly attached • child will not explore but doesn’t seem to draw comfort from presence of mother • will do nothing when she re-enters room • this is really sad • will turn away from her if she tries to connect

Attachment Theory • These results correlated with the previous 12 month observations at homes • Some mothers failed to recognize a child was crying • Attachment styles are a property of the mother/child pair: intersubjective system • style may be different with father or others

Attachment Theory • Developmental pathways • phasal development was standard in psychoanalysis • Freud psychosexual stages, Klein’s schizoid - depressive positions, Mahler’s stages of autism, symbiosis, separation etc. • what’s normal at a young age is pathological at a later age • persons regress to earlier stage (pen-chewing)

Attachment Theory • There is no autistic phase • There is no manic/depressive phase • Phasal developmental theories are wrong!!! • these theories don’t fit the facts • Developmental pathways for psychological development parallel biological development

Attachment Theory • All of us are born with a great array of developmental pathways • many routes to mental health • Two main patterns of deviation • anxiously ambivalent • takes individual off course • anxiously avoidant • leads to depressive and anxious states • can become narcissistic • allergic to relationships or gets trapped

Attachment Theory • Temperament • temperament studies are rubbish • no way to measure infant temperament • no correlation between 1st week of life to attachment at 12 months • temperament is used to explain vagueries • I would add that dispositions are fluid or dependent on intersubjective field • mother/infant dyad

Attachment Theory • Representational models and interpersonal relationships • working models of • mother • father • self • these are cognitive models and are usually unconscious • expect to be treated this old way by new attachment figures

Attachment Theory • Representational models are result of actual experiences - not fantasy as in Freud and Klein • These models tend to perseverate • patient may have more than one model of himself or others • some theorists try to change models • others try to “add on” new models

Attachment Theory Bowlby believes that through representational models we can link cognitive psychology with psychoanalysis In other words we can uncover the sources of cognitive processing if we use representational models

Attachment Theory • Patients bring a sense of unlovability and a set of expectations about how they will be treated to therapy • Goal of therapy is to help patient explore him or herself in a way he or she would never dare do before • process is too painful • process is too perplexing

Attachment Theory • Another goal in therapy is to try to provide a secure base from which the patient can explore • We can intend this to be a growth-producing experience but it may be a mismatch with patient’s expectations • about to be kicked out of therapy • don’t try to disabuse patient of perceptions but explore experience and its sources

Attachment Theory • We are dependent on what the patient tells us • how reliable is this? • partial omissions? • out of balance? • Most patients tell a bit of the truth • trust that patients are telling you in the best way they can what their experience has been • don’t be entrapped by facticity

Attachment Theory In Bowlby’s research he found that 30% of mothers used threats of abandonment of child to try to get wanted behavior Inquire about this with patient Patient is better off recognizing truth that mother didn’t want him than not Help patient discover truth but don’t overdo interpretation

Attachment Theory Bowlby claims Mahler’s “symbiosis” is a cloak What kind of attachment is it? Stranger/familiar figure is left out of all psychoanalytic theorizing We’re attached to our models Suicide is a pull to keep others close

Attachment Theory Tape 2 Clinical application Goals are to cognitively and emotionally rediscover the past This must be achieved before patient’s can disentangle the old and the new As long as history is hidden from ourselves we’re likely to see present and future in terms of the past

Attachment Theory • Reasons why persons don’t look at hx: • too painful to acknowledge • ban on doing so from parents • individual’s perceptions have been disqualified • Memory and feeling are shut away

Attachment Theory • Why persons don’t feel their feelings: • unacknowledged in past • disqualified in the past • invalidated in the past • shamed for having disruptive, or any, feelings • Results in creation of a false self

Attachment Theory In terms of genetic factors - eating, sex - Bowlby claims attachment takes precedence over both We don’t know why some persons are born more sensitive than others Finally, real life experiences count: You can’t come to terms with a mirage

Attachment Theory