ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book reveals a second stage of extending John Bowlby's ideas by focusing on the concept of supportive companionable caregiving. Bowlby's attachment theory of careseeking matched by caregiving has relevance for many species and has generated a flood of research, although his model for instinctive behaviour has remained virtually unused by therapists. The book focuses on the conceptual base on which people have constructed a theory of companionable caregiving. It describes how the theory can be used as a guide when working with clients. The book discusses the studies of MacLean on the evolution of non-verbal signals, which also point to the evolution of caregiving, and a primate pattern of relating in which dominant/submissive patterns are a prominent feature. It also discusses how a therapist can put into effect the principles of professional caregiving found to be therapeutic.
