ABSTRACT
In developing the theory and practice of Educational Psychotherapy, Irene Caspari drew on a variety of theoretical principles. Caspari concluded that it was essential to tackle the demoralization of children who had developed an aversion to learning through history of failure. This thinking was in line with Behaviour Modification principles based on the Learning Theory of conditioning by means of rewards and punishments. Caspari’s colleagues at the Tavistock Clinic included John Bowlby. His research collaborators included Mary Ainsworth, who helped to identify patterns of attachment that first develop during infancy. When mothers were sufficiently attuned and responsive to their babies’ needs in early infancy, the babies became securely attached to their mothers. When a mother’s behaviour towards her baby was inconsistent and unpredictable the infant developed an anxious-ambivalent attachment pattern. Some babies showed disorganized/disorientated behaviour in the mother’s presence during the research study, freezing with a trance-like expression hands-in-air, or turning away from the mother to the wall while crying.
