Adult Attachment and Couple Psychotherapy: The Secure Base in Practice and Research

Adult Attachment and Couple Psychotherapy: The “Secure Base” in Practice and Research. Sam R. Hamburg. Pages | Published.
Table of contents

Healing and Hope for Abused Christian Women. The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse. Attachment Processes in Couple and Family Therapy.

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Adult Attachment and Couple Psychotherapy - Tavistock Relationships

They studied 11 experienced therapists who provided either psychodynamic psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, or a mix of the two to 30 individuals. Data presented are restricted to the first five therapy sessions. They used the Bartholomew and Horowitz categorical model to measure patient attachment style, but in a dimensional fashion. Results showed that a more fearful attachment orientation was related to lower alliance ratings and that a more secure attachment orientation predicted higher alliance ratings.

A preoccupied style was negatively correlated with the alliance, although not at a statistically significant level.

Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy | Pirjo Tuovila | PT-Publishing

The authors were surprised to find that the dismissing dimension was positively correlated with the alliance. Similar results were obtained from both client and therapist ratings of the alliance.

How Does Attachment Theory Inform Couples Therapy?

With regard to ruptures, therapists were much more likely than patients to report them. The preoccupied attachment style predicted more therapist reports of ruptures than the other styles. A dismissing style was associated with fewer reports of ruptures both by therapists and patients. These findings dovetail nicely with those of Kivlighan and colleagues as reported above.

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It would have been interesting to add therapist experience as a moderating variable in the current study. The correlations between rupture frequency and attachment style may be the first reported in the psychotherapy literature. An assumption underlying this body of research is that therapists become attachment figures for patients and that the therapeutic relationship reactivates patients' working models of attachment with regard to self-valuation and expectations of the availability and nurturance of others.

Although establishing this link seems crucial, interesting questions have nevertheless been addressed, including how clients' and therapists' interpersonal attachment styles affect therapy processes. These studies suggest that attachment theory provides a rich base for understanding the processes and outcomes of psychotherapy, particularly as they unfold through the therapeutic alliance. National Center for Biotechnology Information , U.

J Psychother Pract Res. This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. The Making and Breaking of Affectional Bonds.


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Attachment theory and psychotherapy research: Psychotherapy Research ; Attachment organization and treatment use for adults with serious psychopathological disorders. Dev Psychopathol ; 2: J Consult Clin Psychol ; Mace C, Margison F: Br J Med Psychol ; Cassidy J, Shaver PR eds: New York, Guilford, Bartholomew K, Horowitz LM: Attachment styles among young adults: J Pers Soc Psychol ; Griffin DW, Bartholomew K: The metaphysics of measurement: Personal Relationships ; 5: Hazan C, Shaver PR: Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process.


  1. CONCLUSIONS.
  2. Vanishing Voices: The Extinction of the Worlds Languages.
  3. Pursuing Priscilla?
  4. Adult Attachment and Couple Psychotherapy!
  5. Attachment Theory and Psychotherapy Research?
  6. 31 Mar-1 Apr 2017: Attachment and Intimacy.

    7. Security in infancy, childhood, and adulthood: Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development ; 50 1—2: Attachment patterns in the psychotherapy relationship: The seminar will also benefit individual therapeutic work with adults, adolescents and children. The training suits well for all who want to understand the dynamics of adult love relationships and how they differ from those of childhood, and get an insight into the emotional aspects of relationship and parenthood.

    Opening Pirjo Tuovila , Specialist in developmental and educational psychology. The Look of Love This session considers the nature of love from an attachment perspective and how developmental processes contribute to partner choice and relationship patterns in adulthood, focusing on: Attachment and Sexuality This session considers the relationship between attachment and sexuality, including: Attachment and Violence This session considers the relationship between attachment trauma and violence in couple relationships, including: Love in the Consulting Room part 1 Dr.

    Tracking and reframing negative cycles of interaction Accessing and processing unacknowledged primary emotions Therapeutic use of enactments to create new bonding experiences and interactions.