1. Attachment Theory

2. 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.

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

4. Mahler Normal autism Normal symbiosis
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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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)

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. Attachment Theory 3 attachment styles securely attached
anxiously ambivalently attached
anxiously avoidantly attached

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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)

24. 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

25. 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

26. 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

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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

30. 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

31. 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

32. 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

33. 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

34. 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

35. 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

36. 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

37. 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

38. 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