ABSTRACT
The theory of attachment was developed by John Bowlby, and it brings to the fore the human need to form close affective relationships which manifest themselves in behaviours of proximity, distancing and contact with the carer, as well as in affective reactions in the face of separation. The doctor-patient relationship in a certain way reproduces the relationship between the child and his parents. Taking the analysis of the patient’s replies to the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) as a starting point, its authors have tried to assess the way in which a person organises his thoughts and verbal language regarding attachment, that is to say its narrative coherence. Regarding the doctor, coherence is important; but even more important is the reflective function. Attachment can be related to a discipline called proxemics, developed by the anthropologist Edward T. Hall, which measures the spatial configurations of human beings in terms of distance.
