ABSTRACT
John Bowlby studied children, who, due to harsh circumstances, were separated from their parents: children evacuated because of the Blitz and children in hospital. He discovered a predictable pattern: protest, despair, and detachment, which have become the canon of attachment theory. Without significant others, babies can die, and adults can’t thrive. The gold standard of healthy development became secure attachment, including a “secure base,” people on which we can depend. In this model, psychopathology is due to the terror of abandonment anxiety, as the baby “knows” that without care he or she will die. Loss of any kind destabilizes the self.
Mary Ainsworth first did extensive field work and then invented a laboratory technique to determine attachment style. Her “strange situation” enables researchers to determine attachment style, whether it be secure or the various insecure types. Mary Main extended attachment thinking into adult studies, creating the Adult Attachment Inventory (AAI) and adding the concept of “earned secure” to the lexicon.
For Peter Fonagy, decent attachment is a prerequisite to the capacity to mentalize, to self-reflect, and to grow. For Daniel Siegel, it is the foundation for his neurobiology of “we” theory and his studies on both psychotherapy and how the brain and nervous system work. Allan Schore’s work is encyclopedic, bringing together psychoanalytic thinking and current neuroscience. Stephen Porges’ basic research into a previously understudied aspect of the vagal nerve now informs trauma theory and treatment.
