The bond between client and therapist, a component of the global alliance, is widely believed to play a crucial role in supporting the work of therapy. However, we know little about how the client-therapist bond becomes established and have few theoretical tools to conceptualize its development. Attachment theory, with its focus on the development and dynamics of intimate relationships, is a lens through which we can expand our understanding of the client-therapist bond. I argue that the therapeutic bond may be usefully viewed as an in-progress attachment to therapists. Using Bowlby (1969/1982) and Ainsworth's (Ainsworth et al., 1978) ideas about normative attachment development, I present a phase model of attachment to the therapist and include behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and physiological markers of each phase. I draw empirical support from the psychotherapy process and alliance literatures and discuss research considerations and clinical implications of the model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).
We examined intergenerational transmission of attachment organization in the context of adult romantic relationships. Similarities and differences in adult attachment style between young female adults and their parents were investigated. Results generally supported the hypothesis that mothers’ adult attachment organization, but not fathers’, is related to daughters’ adult attachment organization. This relationship was detected at both categorical and dimensional levels. The Avoidance dimension of the Experiences in Close Relationships Questionnaire, which reflects the degree of discomfort with physical and emotional closeness in romantic relationships, was the strongest predictor of daughters’ attachment organization. Mothers’ Avoidance predicted daughters’ Avoidance. Mothers high in Avoidance were also more likely to be divorced, separated, or unmarried.
The revised SBD is a starting place for dialogue about whether a clinically significant presentation of suicidality is a mental illness and, if it is, what its defining features should be.
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