A Secure Base

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The absence of a possible strategy to achieve comfortable proximity in infancy leads to confused and disorganised behaviours. I was expecting a bit more of the actual theory of attachment instead of the history of it but it was helpful in understanding the theory and its development, interesting and well written. Whilst Bowlby's background was in psychoanalysis, he eschewed the Freudian concepts of developmental stages and of the inner 'fantasy' life being more crucial in psychopathology than the effect of real-life events upon a person's 'developmental pathway'. Below, each of these four patterns is described in relation to the caregiving approach associated with it. Each of the five caregiving dimensions can be associated with a particular developmental benefit for the child, as shown in the table below and positive caregiving guidance for each dimension is outlined in this guide to Positive caregiving approaches.

This outcome may be supported by the use of the secure base model across all services to vulnerable children.Controversial yet powerfully influential to this day, this classic collection of Bowlby’s lectures offers important guidelines for child rearing based on the crucial role of early relationships. When the baby is hungry, lonely or uncomfortable the sensitive and responsive caregiver will both recognise and react promptly to meet the baby's needs.

In the toddler years, attachment behaviours will include more direct actions, such as approaching, following, clinging and other behavioural strategies that can achieve proximity to the attachment figure. Each interaction conveys a number of messages to the child and has an incremental effect on the child's beliefs about him or herself, beliefs about other people and the relationship between self and others. There are, in fact, no more important communications between one human being and another than those expressed emotionally. Bowlby’s work showed that the early interactions between infant and caregiver have a profound impact on an infant's social, emotional, and intellectual growth. The caregiving dimensions and their developmental benefit to the child are represented by the The Secure Base model.

Avoidant: When the caregiver finds it difficult to accept or respond sensitively to the infant's needs, the infant may find that their demands are rejected, their feelings minimised and that the caregiver tries to take over in an intrusive, insensitive way. Early experiences of separation or neglectful or abusive parenting will cause children to remain anxious and to distrust close relationships. During the earliest years of our lives, indeed, emotional expression and its reception are the only means of communication we have. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. After dissecting each type and offering parental techniques (implicitely by telling you examples of misbehavior) he applies the theory to the field of psychotherapy.

Where children have not experienced the kind of sensitive parenting that promotes security and resilience, they will find it difficult to trust and will struggle with managing their feelings and behaviour.

His emphasis on the importance of the present experience over examination of past memories, and of the therapeutic effect of the quality of the client-therapist relationship, also distinguishes his work from that of traditional psychoanalysis.

An in-depth knowledge of attachment theory is not necessary for professionals to use the model, but an understanding of some of the basic concepts of attachment is helpful. The Strange Situation involves the infant experiencing a series of brief separations and reunions while their reactions are observed. This book contains transcripts of some of Bowlby's lectures and is written in his wonderfully old fashioned descriptive style, a great read.Over time, the infant tends to become needy and angry, a ‘clingy', but distrustful and resistant child. A través de una serie de conferencias realizadas por el autor, se exploran las consecuencias del apego en el desarrollo de la personalidad, los factores que influyen en su construcción y la necesidad de su consideración en la clínica. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. I am currently not entirely convinced by attachment theory, or at least not on the same scale he seems to see in the world, and this also influenced my opinion of the book.