Attachment, Psychoanalysis, and the Search for a 21st-Century Psychotherapy Practice. Issue 5 (4th July 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Holmes, Jeremy
• Is Part Of: Psychoanalytic inquiry. Volume 37:Issue 5(2017)
• Page Start: 309
• Page End: 318
• Publication Date: 2017-07-04
• Subjects: Psychoanalysis -- Periodicals; Psychoanalysis -- Periodicals; Psychanalyse -- Périodiques; 616.8917
• DOI: 10.1080/07351690.2017.1322425
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0735-1690

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Attachment theory was built by Bowlby as an attempt to link psychoanalysis with the wider world of ethology, cybernetics, and evolutionary theory. Although it was initially rejected by the psychoanalytic establishment, there has been a gradual rapprochement. This article attempts to accelerate this process by laying out the points of overlap and distinction between attachment and psychoanalytic perspectives on clinical treatment. It summarizes the main tenets of attachment theory and then looks in detail at the therapeutic alliance, classification, transference/countertransference, and interpretation and mentalizing from an attachment perspective. A clinical example illustrates how insecure and secure attachment play out in the consulting room, and the article ends by suggesting that attachment provides a suitable evidence base for the Relational/Independent Psychoanalytic approach.