While the actual basis for this theory was first introduced by John Bowlby in the 1950s, the significance of this theory in the current day therapist’s office cannot be emphasized enough. If you’re just discovering this field, let’s learn more!
Core Concepts of Attachment Theory
The overall basis for the attachment theory is that relationships with primary caretakers in the formative years of life provide the foundation for an internal working model for all future relationships.
Secure Attachment
Clients that have a secure attachment have been able to count on their caretakers throughout their formative years. These are the clients that have a positive view of themselves and others. They have a positive view of intimacy and independence and are able to resolve conflicts in a healthy and positive manner without any fear of rejection or engulfment.
Anxious-Preoccupied Attachment
Clients that have an anxious-preoccupied type of attachment have been able to count on their caretaker only some of the time throughout their formative years. These are the clients that have a negative view of themselves, a positive view of others, an overwhelming need for a high level of intimacy and approval in the relationship, and perceive that their partner does not value them as much as they value the relationship.
Dismissive-Avoidant Attachment
These are the clients that have distant caretakers throughout their formative years and have a positive view of themselves, a negative view of others, a positive view of independence, and avoid their need for a connection to others due to the pain it causes them and their dependency on others.
Fearful-Avoidant (Disorganized) Attachment Style
This kind of attachment style is usually linked with trauma, abuse, and/or neglect, which means the caregiver was the source of fear for the child. In working with these kinds of clients, there is a desire and fear of intimacy.
Attachment in the Therapeutic Alliance
As a matter of fact, the therapeutic alliance, by definition, is an attachment-based relationship. Inevitably, the client will project his/her internal working models onto the therapist. This is the key to understanding the attachment and predicting the attachment ruptures.
The anxious preoccupied client might be sensitive to the tone and scheduling of the therapy and might interpret this as a boundary as rejection, and the dismissing avoidant might intellectualize the feelings and keep the therapist at arm’s length and downplay the therapeutic alliance.
This is not a concern for the client; this is the work. In providing a ‘safe base,’ the therapist is providing a corrective emotional experience. His/her intention is to provide an experience that disconfirms the negative schemata the client has of others.
Strategies for Addressing Attachment Styles
Making the therapeutic interventions sensitive to the attachment styles of the client is likely to have a significant impact upon the outcome of the client’s therapy. In the case of the anxious preoccupied client, the therapist needs to set boundaries that are reliable and consistent, and also reassure the client.
The client has to learn to live with separation, and this forms part of therapy for this client. With an avoidant client, the therapist has to walk a thin line between respecting the autonomy of the client and, at the same time, exploring the defenses of the client against intimacy. This is where patience becomes a virtue for therapists working with avoidant clients, as they may retreat further into their shell.
When working with fearful-avoidant clients, safety and going slow are paramount. This is because the client feels that the relationship is not safe. The therapist has to be clear and consistent in their approach to make the client feel a sense of security and to manage the overwhelming emotions that come from feelings of closeness.
The more educational resources on attachment styles you utilize, the better positioned you’ll be to take positive steps in each case.
Moving Toward Earned Security
There are many ways to understand the complexities of the human mind, and attachment theory can be one way to make sense of all this resistance that we encounter as therapists working with our clients. The relationship between therapist and client is like the world at large. A client can find “earned security” through a healthy relationship with their therapist and re-write their story to come up with a new narrative of having healthy and secure relationships!