The Adult Attachment Projective Picture System: Integrating Attachment Into Clinical Assessment

George, Carol; West, Malcolm

doi:10.1080/00223891.2011.594133

Cited by 129 publications

(402 citation statements)

References 46 publications

(56 reference statements)

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“…Moreover, these colleagues also suggested that he reflect on the parents' childhood histories of parenting as their tacit practice knowledge signalled that losses sustained in early childhood may contribute to later emotional difficulties encountered in parenting. Subsequent research on adult attachment has established that unresolved emotional experience in childhood (e.g., loss) is regularly associated with attachment insecurity in adults (George & West, 2011). This finding confirms the social workers' early, practice-based conceptualisations.…”

Section: Original Article the Impact Of Childhood Losssupporting

confidence: 77%

“…The relational state of most concern, specifically from a care practice perspective, involves adult experiences of unresolved trauma and loss. Adults operating from this stance have been described as frightening and disorienting to children because their shift in mind states can be rapid and unpredictable (George & West, 2011). These mind states are narratively displayed through momentary lapses in reasoning.…”

Section: Original Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

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Social work’s fingerprint on the evolution of attachment theory: Some essential knowledge for care practice

Chinnery

2016

ANZSWJ

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INTRODUCTION:Social work practice knowledge was seminal to the evolution of attachment theory. This disciplinary connection is little known to many social work practitioners. This article seeks to remind care practice social workers specifically of this association, as the social work skills upon which early attachment knowledge was premised remain important to contemporary care practice. FOCUS:Through a three-part discussion, this article aims to deepen care practice social workers' understanding of attachment theory and its practical relevance for care practice assessment. The first section outlines the watershed moments of the theory's development. The second highlights social work's connection to this development. The third and final section reviews the construct of the internal working model and its value for distinguishing emotional differences in an adult's relational biography. FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS:A key care practice goal is to facilitate the healthy growth and development of children and young people who have been placed in foster care due to maltreatment. A growing number of attachment researchers have found that the internal working model of a child's new caregivers, with respect to attachment, is an important element in the revision of the child's internal working model of relationships (Pace & Zavattini, 2011). Thus, care practice social workers need to pay close attention to relational facets in prospective caregivers' assessments as some literature suggests that practitioners struggle to understand the role attachment orientation plays in the care relationship (Bick & Dozier, 2008). CONCLUSIONS:This article highlights and elaborates upon the utility of attachment theory for present-day care practice and argues that a deep understanding of this theory is likely to be instrumental to achieving better relational outcomes in foster care. This knowledge is foundational to conceptualising the different relational expectancies that prospective foster parents might bring to a new relationship.

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Section: Original Article the Impact Of Childhood Losssupporting

confidence: 77%

Section: Original Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

Social work’s fingerprint on the evolution of attachment theory: Some essential knowledge for care practice

Chinnery

2016

ANZSWJ

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“…1988). Following this emphasis, some attachment theorists have used segregated systems as the basis for their thinking and design of attachment measures, such as George and West’s (2012) Adult Attachment Projective , which uses segregated systems as the theoretical basis for the adult attachment classification equivalent of disorganization. Despite its clear importance for his thinking, however, Bowlby offered little published discussion of the concept of segregated systems.…”

Section: Bowlby’s Theory: Segregated Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disorganized attachment and defense: exploring John Bowlby’s unpublished reflections

Reisz

Duschinsky

Siegel³

2017

Attachment & Human Development

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Main and Solomon were the first to create a formal infant Strange Situation classification of attachment disorganization. Bowlby’s reflections on the underlying psychological processes of such behaviors, however, began early in his career, including the term “disorganization.” Most of these remained unpublished but are available through the John Bowlby Archive. Bowlby saw affective experiences as the source of the attachment behavioral system’s organization and regulation, and he introduced the term “effector equipment” to describe the emergent organization of attention, expectation, affect, and behavior to orchestrate responses to the environment. In his thinking, disorganization results from threat conflict, safe haven ambiguity, and/or activation without assuagement, which interfere with coordination and integration across a behavioral system. Bowlby’s unpublished writings also amplify his published work on segregated systems and defensive exclusion. Bowlby’s insights are relevant today and can provide greater background and clarity to current work, as researchers and clinicians consider the origins, manifestations, and meaning of disorganization.

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“…Basically, I propose that tests like the Rorschach (Exner, 2003), Thematic Apperception Test (TAT; Murray, 1943), Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP; George & West, 2012), and others-because of their visual, emotionally arousing stimulus properties and the emotionally arousing aspects of their administration procedures-tap into material that is more reflective of right-hemisphere and subcortical functioning. Other tests like the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2; Butcher et al, 2001), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck, Ward, Mendelson, Mock, & Erbaugh, 1961), and Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R; Derogatis & Savitz, 2000) utilize more left-hemisphere cortical functions because of their verbal format and nonemotionally arousing adminstration.…”

Section: The Importance Of Performance-based Personality Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implications of Recent Research in Neurobiology for Psychological Assessment

Finn

2012

Journal of Personality Assessment

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In this article, I highlight 3 major findings from current research in attachment, neurobiology, psychopathology, and psychotherapy: (a) attachment failures and early trauma are related to many forms of psychopathology, (b) one of the major sequelae of developmental trauma is disorganization of the right hemisphere, and (c) psychological interventions that promote emotional experience, awareness, and expression are more effective than those that rely solely on cognitive restructuring. I then suggest implications of these findings for the practice of psychological assessment: (a) the relationship between client and assessor is more important than has been acknowledged generally, (b) performance-based personality tests are very useful in part because they tap right-hemisphere and subcortical brain functioning and provide information that clients cannot directly report, and (c) when psychological assessments provide clients with powerful emotional experiences, therapeutic change is often the result. I illustrate these points with excerpts from the Therapeutic Assessment of a 27-year-old man with compulsive sexual behavior.

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The Adult Attachment Projective Picture System: Integrating Attachment Into Clinical Assessment

Cited by 129 publications

References 46 publications

Social work’s fingerprint on the evolution of attachment theory: Some essential knowledge for care practice

Social work’s fingerprint on the evolution of attachment theory: Some essential knowledge for care practice

Disorganized attachment and defense: exploring John Bowlby’s unpublished reflections

Implications of Recent Research in Neurobiology for Psychological Assessment

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