The Attachment Theory

Have you ever felt the feeling of butterflies in your stomach or heard the phrase “my heart skipped a beat for you”? As children, we grew up learning from our elders and experiencing new beginnings in life. Much of our knowledge has been brought upon by what we see and hear, rather of what we know. Many important decisions we make in our life has to do with what our feelings show us. Love is an important matter in our life because it motivates us in different ways. Love can be shown through emotions or even through actions. What is a valuable definition of love? A brief definition of love can be said to be a variety of different feelings or attitudes that ranges from interpersonal affection to pleasure. In other words, to me love is when

John Bowlby, the backbone of attachment theories will be discussed throughout this essay to explain and evaluate the key theories of attachment. Health and well-being which is made up of four factors ‘physical, intellectual, emotional and social ' (Jones, 2016), will also be discussed within the essay. The definition of attachment is ‘an act of attaching or the state of being attached. ' (Dictionary, 1400) This will be showed in the assignment, using theorists to analyse the meaning. Sharing the strengths and weaknesses in some theorists will help conclude this assignment.

The attachment theory links into practice because the whole concept of it is forming an attachment, this theory therefore links into practice because for example if a child has a strong bond/attachment such as recognising and being able to share problems and concerns then this gives children the confidence and support and they can acknowledge that and practitioners can meet their needs e.g. if a child forms an attachment with their caregiver then the care giver will become aware of their needs, their likes and dislikes and can put certain interventions into place, so just say a child only communicates with their caregiver and no one else then the caregiver will become aware of that and may do certain things one by one in order for them to communicate

EFT is an attachment based research theory, that suggest that couples have strong need to stay connected (bond) to each other. As such, bonding is very important in marital relationships and if the bond is disappearing, then stressful and negative cycle pattern begins to emerge. Thus, the goal of EFT is to support couples walk through a process of healing (overcoming the negative patterns, rebuilding the connection again, and fortify the bond) (Goldenberg, Stanton, & Goldenberg, 2017). From the assessment that has carried out by the therapist it is clear that Tam and Lisa do not have what it takes to manage or settle conflicts without it escalating into something else. As such, the bonding between them is disappearing and it’s becoming stressful and disturbing to them and their children. Because Jimmy and Emma even though do not see their parent fight or disagree in the open but they can sense the disconnection between their parent and feel the tension whenever both of them where at home. More so, because of the negative pattern that has emerge as a result of lack of secure attachment, there is no more interactions between the couple and each others needs are not met. From the case conceptualization, and to decide what treatment plan should target or focus on the therapist will use the step-by-step treatment manual provided by Johnson and Greenberg (1995) as cited in (Goldenberg et al., 2017) for the therapy process:

The Attachment theory is a psychological, ethological and evolutionary theory that gives a descriptive and explanatory framework of understanding interpersonal relationship between human beings. Presented by John Bowlby, the important tenet of this theory is that an infant needs to develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for social and emotional development to progress generally.

To begin with attachment theory, first everyone should understand what the attachment is. According to attachment means bonding between a child and caregiver or vice versa. The attachment theory is the theory that describes the long term interpersonal relationship between the humans. Also, it can be defined as the strong bond between parent and child, and later in peer and romantic relationship (Metzger, Erdman, Ng 85). It generates a specific fact that how the humans react in relationships when they get hurt, separated from loved ones and perceiving a threat. Basically the two main types of attachment are secure and insecure. Secure attachment is the attachments where mother and father are available for their child and during that time child demonstrates his or her stress and reestablish the connection (Metzger, Erdman, Ng 87). Insecure attachment is the attachment where parents are not regularly in touch with their children or they ignore their child which built a failed emotion communication (Metzger, Erdman, Ng 87). Also, it may be repeated from one generation to another until it is not recovered. However, as a result of attachment theory, it is so important for children to know about it and there are also several emotional effects on children when their parents leave to go to another county due to their connections or bond between them.

Despite all the benefits of the three theories, they do have some limitations when addressing Andrew’s needs. For instance, attachment theory puts too much emphasis on the relationship between the mother and the chid, which unfortunately result in blame being put on the female caregiver (Coady & Lehmann, 2008). In Andrew’s case, the counsellor may focus too much on the relationship he had with his mother instead of also focusing on what kind of relationship he had with his father. One of the limitations for cognitive-behavioural theory regarding to treatment is that it may not be appropriate for clients with severe depressions or other sever problems (Coady & Lehmann, 2008). For Andrew’s case, if he was still taking his medications, he may

The Development of Attachment Theory and Its Strengths and Limitations English psychiatrist John Bowlby is a leading and influential figure within the history of social reform. His work has influenced social work policies and legislation relating to child psychiatry and psychology. Bowlby was trained as a psychoanalyst, and was influenced by Freudians theories, but became influenced again in his attachment theory by the work of ethologists. The ethologists theory concentrates on looking at the role parents play rather than only the child. Bowlby believes that parenting has strong ties with biology and it explains why there are such strong emotions attached.

Attachment theory is a psychological model that provides an influential, biologically driven explanation of how the parent-child interaction emerges and how it influences human development over a life span. The term attachment refers to the complex set of related thought processes and behaviors towards a primary care giver. The attachment behaviors are biologically guided by our natural instinct for protection and safety. This evolved behavioral system organizes human motivation, emotions, cognition, and memory. The attachment relationship that an individual creates in infancy effects their growth, behavior in other relationships, risk taking, and mental health through their human development (George, 2014, p. 97). I chose to use attachment theory to understand Carla’s current situation because the theory has been powerful in understanding the range of relationships patterns that develop between mother and their infants and children. It has been shown that children who experience inadequate parenting are at a much higher risk for an insecure attachment style and experience more interpersonal difficulties in adulthood especially with relationships. Carla grew up in a very inconsistent environment her whole life. Using attachment theory I am analyzing how her childhood shaped who she is as a woman and the choices she made that ultimately brought her to where she is today.

As we have seen in Rose's counseling session, past relational patterns are elicited from exploration of the patients' past and early relationships. Key themes are: the degree of love and care (emotional warmth) they experienced in early life; the degree of neglect and abuse; and the types and qualities of core conflicts. In Rose's case, the key issue, as Dr. Berenson discovers over the course of the interview is the subtle manipulation of a mother by her child. She tests her and puts her through a lot of stress, to see how she responds; in this case losing sleep and stressing over the situation.

This essay will consider the psychological theory of behaviourism. I will explain how it is used in social work and compare it with two further theories- cognitive and attachment theory. I will explain and evaluate how it informs knowledge of human development and make strong links to its application within social work. Behaviourists believed that a person is born a blank slate and the environment they are brought up in after birth is responsible for a person’s behaviour. John Watson was a psychologist, that helped with the birth of behaviourism.

As humans, building relationships between others is a form of connecting and communicating. It is a social situation that is experienced every day through the course of a lifetime. The initial relationship that is made is between the mother and the child. This bond that connects two people is known to be called attachment. The theory of attachment begins at birth, and from that, continuing on to other relationships in family, friends, and romance. Attachment is taught through social experiences, however the relationship with the mother and her temperament are the key factors in shaping the infants attachment type, which

The study’s three main purposes were to determine if the so-called activation relationship is predominantly influenced by a father figure promoting risk taking behavior in a child; to ascertain whether there was a connection between the activation relationship and fearful or disoriented attachment; and to determine whether there was a difference between sexes in the activation relationship between fathers and their toddlers. The activation relationship is based on activation theory, or the idea that a child’s confidence is a result of the promotion by parents of risk-taking behavior during exploration. Most literature in the area of parent-child attachment focuses on the mother as the primary attachment figure.

Many psychologists have come and gone, and many different theoretical orientations have been developed. With each orientation has come a new perspective on development, behaviour and mental processes. Some are similar, yet others could not be more contradictory. Attachment is one such theoretical orientation, developed by John Bowlby out of his dissatisfaction with other existing theories. Although Bowlby rejected psychoanalytical explanations for early infant bonds, the theory of attachment was influenced in part by the principles of psychoanalysis; in particular the observations by Ana Freud and Dorothy Burlingham of young children separated from

Researchers have been looking at theories to show how important relationships are in people’s lives and attachment theory has allowed them to understand human behavior in a variety of ways. Feelings, such as anger and romantic love, can be directly correlated to the attachments received as a child.