Integrating Attachment Theory and Nondirective Play Therapy to Treat Children With More Serious Attachment Problems

2011 ◽  
pp. 265-295
Author(s):  
Jessica Jäger ◽  
Virginia Ryan
Keyword(s):  
Attachment Theory ◽  
Play Therapy ◽  
Attachment Problems

Attachment Theory from Ethology to the Strange Situation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marga Vicedo
Keyword(s):  
Attachment Theory ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Childhood Development ◽  
Biological Study ◽  
Western World ◽  
Emotional Life ◽  
Strange Situation ◽  
Child Relationship ◽  
Attachment Problems ◽  
Mary Ainsworth

In psychology, the term “attachment” has been made popular by British psychiatrist and psychoanalyst John Bowlby’s theory about the adaptive value of the mother–infant bond. Bowlby was not the first to use the term “attachment” or to study the significance of close emotional relationships for infants and young children. Anna Freud and other psychoanalysts had used the term to refer to the mother–child relationship. Bowlby’s views, however, departed from psychoanalysis because he appealed to the science of ethology, the biological study of behavior, for support. According to Bowlby, the mother–infant attachment has a biological basis. The operationalization of the ethological theory of attachment through the work of American- Canadian child psychologist Mary Ainsworth played a key role in the rise of the ethological theory of attachment to paradigmatic status toward the end of the 20th century. Ainsworth carried out observational studies of the attachment between mothers and infants. She also designed an experiment, the strange situation procedure (SSP), to measure and categorize attachment relationships between infants and mothers. Ainsworth and her students argued that their experimental work in the SSP supported Bowlby’s views about the instinctual nature of the child’s attachment to the mother and the importance of a secure attachment in infancy for a person’s adequate emotional development. Attachment theory has become one of psychology’s most influential theories about early child development and its impact on an individual’s subsequent emotional life and adult relationships. Supporters claim its universal validity and its prescriptive character. For them, attachment theory establishes the norm of what is considered healthy emotional and psychological childhood development, and it sets the standards for good parenting. In the Western world, attachment theory has an impact in various realms, including childcare, adoption policies, education, and therapy. Many schools of early childhood education identify children at risk for poor learning in the classroom as a result of attachment problems at home. Pediatricians often rely on attachment theory to encourage specific practices in parent–child interactions. Therapeutic approaches for children, families, and couples are sometimes based on attachment theory, as are decisions about adoption, parental rights, and child custody. Furthermore, some intervention programs in family and educational practices implemented by international NGOs rely on attachment theory. The ethological theory of attachment, however, has also been contested since its inception. Several psychologists critiqued the empirical studies about maternal deprivation on which it was erected. Other scholars challenged the notion that biological science supports its claims. Finally, numerous cross-cultural psychologists and anthropologists challenged the universality of several of its central tenets. They call for recognizing the cultural assumptions embedded in attachment theory, in the instruments and constructs used to measure it, and in the expectations it promotes about good parenting.

Play Therapy With Children With Attachment Problems

2015 ◽  
pp. 381-395
Author(s):  
Sarah C. Patton ◽  
Helen E. Benedict
Keyword(s):  
Play Therapy ◽  
Attachment Problems

Attachment-Based Play Techniques for Enhancing Growth in Supervision

2021 ◽  
pp. 56-68
Author(s):  
Anne L. Stewart ◽  
Lennis G. Echterling
Keyword(s):  
Attachment Theory ◽  
Play Therapy ◽  
Robust Learning ◽  
Caring Relationship ◽  
Supervisory Experience

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an attachment theory perspective for conceptualizing the supervisor-supervisee relationship and to describe a variety of attachment-informed and playful techniques for enhancing the power of supervision to promote robust learning and growth. The same patterns of attuned interactions and reflections in play therapy are also useful to apply to the supervisor-supervisee relationship. Play creates a pleasure bond between two people that strengthens the sense of attachment. In the second half of this chapter, several attachment-based experiential activities are described that provide a means for the supervisor and supervisee to connect at a deeper level. Just as play therapy provides a relational, non-verbal, and symbolic means for children to express their experience, the use of experiential activities, embedded in a trusting and caring relationship, can enhance the supervisory experience.

Effects of Attachment Styles on the Experience of Equity in Heterosexual Couples Relationships

2003 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 298-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ina Grau ◽  
Jörg Doll
Keyword(s):  
Attachment Theory ◽  
Attachment Style ◽  
Intimate Relationships ◽  
Attachment Styles ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
The Other ◽  
Heterosexual Couples ◽  
Secure Attachment ◽  
Dependent Variables ◽  
Equity Ratio

Abstract. Employing one correlational and two experimental studies, this paper examines the influence of attachment styles (secure, anxious, avoidant) on a person’s experience of equity in intimate relationships. While one experimental study employed a priming technique to stimulate the different attachment styles, the other involved vignettes describing fictitious characters with typical attachment styles. As the specific hypotheses about the single equity components have been developed on the basis of the attachment theory, the equity ratio itself and the four equity components (own outcome, own input, partner’s outcome, partner’s input) are analyzed as dependent variables. While partners with a secure attachment style tend to describe their relationship as equitable (i.e., they give and take extensively), partners who feel anxious about their relationship generally see themselves as being in an inequitable, disadvantaged position (i.e., they receive little from their partner). The hypothesis that avoidant partners would feel advantaged as they were less committed was only supported by the correlational study. Against expectations, the results of both experiments indicate that avoidant partners generally see themselves (or see avoidant vignettes) as being treated equitably, but that there is less emotional exchange than is the case with secure partners. Avoidant partners give and take less than secure ones.

Incarcerated Adolescents' Distress and Suicidality in Relation to Parental Bonding Styles

Crisis ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 164-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth L McGarvey ◽  
Ludmila A Kryzhanovskaya ◽  
Cheryl Koopman ◽  
Dennis Waite ◽  
Randolph J Canterbury
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Attachment Theory ◽  
Suicidal Behavior ◽  
Parental Bonding ◽  
Psychosocial Problems ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Suicidal Thoughts ◽  
Parental Bonding Instrument ◽  
Significant Relationships ◽  
Incarcerated Adolescents

This study examines the relationships between the bonding style of an incarcerated adolescent with parents and his/her current feelings of self-esteem, hopelessness, and suicidal thoughts and attempts. It also investigates differences between bonding to mother and bonding to father. Some 296 incarcerated adolescents were interviewed using the Parental Bonding Instrument. Significant relationships were found between youths' self-esteem, hopelessness, and suicidal behavior and their bonding style. Youths whose parent(s) had a parental bonding style of affectionless control reported the greatest distress, and youths whose parent(s) had an optimal bonding style reported the least distress. Differences were found between bonding styles with the mother and with the father. Attachment theory may be useful in targeting incarcerated youths who have affectionless control bonding with parent(s) for special interventions since these youths are most at risk for psychosocial problems.

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