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The Clinical Implications of Attachment Theory
Author(s) -
Holmes Jeremy
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
british journal of psychotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.442
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 1752-0118
pISSN - 0265-9883
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-0118.1994.tb00702.x
Subject(s) - psychoanalytic theory , attachment theory , psychology , perspective (graphical) , psychoanalysis , relevance (law) , narrative , psychotherapist , developmental stage theories , individual psychology , developmental psychology , linguistics , philosophy , artificial intelligence , computer science , political science , law
The work of John Bowlby, although influential in developmental psychology and social psychiatry, has had relatively little impact within his parent discipline of psychoanalytic psychotherapy. The paper traces Bowlby's relationship with the British Psychoanalytic Society, contrasting his ideas with those of Klein. Drawing on recent findings in developmental psychology stimulated by Attachment Theory, it outlines the clinical relevance of the concepts of the secure base and narrative, and reviews notions of defence and the Oedipal situation from the attachment perspective. Attachment Theory is not a new ‘school’ of psychotherapy but addresses principles which underlie all effective therapies. An extended case study is described illustrating these points.