Attachment Theories
Attachment Theories: Bowlby and Winnicott
I am particularly interested in attachment theories and ideas arising from objects theory namely Winnicott’s concepts of the transitional object and the “good enough mother”. Having two children, now aged 12 and 14 years old, I can see how the theories applied to them as babies and how it continues to be of significance now they are entering adolescence. It has also allowed me to understand relational patterns in my own life. I particularly like the recognition and evidence that, though childhood experiences are important in a therapeutic setting, past experiences can be reconsidered and changes made. What is Attachment Theory?
Attachment theory is a theory in developmental psychology that highlights the importance of "attachment" in personal development. McLeod (2007) states that it is the ability for an individual to form an emotional and physical attachment to another person which gives a sense of stability and security necessary to take risks, branch out, grow and develop as a personality.
John Bowlby
The British psychologist John Bowlby (1907 to 1990) coined the term attachment. His field was psychiatry and his influences were Freud, Melanie Klein and Lorenz.
Jacobs (2006) states that Bowlby’s evolutionary attachment theory suggests that children come into the world biologically pre-programmed to form attachments with others, because this will help them to survive.
According to Hopkins (1999) Bowlby observed children separated from their parents in hospital, or institutions and revealed they passed through three stages: separation anxiety (threat of loss),
I am particularly interested in attachment theories and ideas arising from objects theory namely Winnicott’s concepts of the transitional object and the “good enough mother”. Having two children, now aged 12 and 14 years old, I can see how the theories applied to them as babies and how it continues to be of significance now they are entering adolescence. It has also allowed me to understand relational patterns in my own life. I particularly like the recognition and evidence that, though childhood experiences are important in a therapeutic setting, past experiences can be reconsidered and changes made. What is Attachment Theory?
Attachment theory is a theory in developmental psychology that highlights the importance of "attachment" in personal development. McLeod (2007) states that it is the ability for an individual to form an emotional and physical attachment to another person which gives a sense of stability and security necessary to take risks, branch out, grow and develop as a personality.
John Bowlby
The British psychologist John Bowlby (1907 to 1990) coined the term attachment. His field was psychiatry and his influences were Freud, Melanie Klein and Lorenz.
Jacobs (2006) states that Bowlby’s evolutionary attachment theory suggests that children come into the world biologically pre-programmed to form attachments with others, because this will help them to survive.
According to Hopkins (1999) Bowlby observed children separated from their parents in hospital, or institutions and revealed they passed through three stages: separation anxiety (threat of loss),