ABSTRACT
Drawing on relevant research and developmental literature we have highlighted the key role that early experience plays in the development of the person and their relational and social environments. However, writers from Bowlby on have also highlighted the ongoing nature of our development and the ways in which these emerge through different experiences in the lifespan. While severe early de®cits in relational exchange and related regulatory capacities can become extremely ingrained and dif®cult to change, we also need to remind ourselves about the potential plasticity of the brain, the ongoing importance of attachment throughout the lifespan and the capacity to create alternative pathways in the brain. These correlate with behavioural and environmental events which serve to provide different experiences and new possibilities. The self-regulatory processes developed in childhood are not completely hardwired.
