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As we revisit my article from eleven years ago, I am confronted by the sad reality of its ongoing relevance to its themes. The fundamental knowledge of attachment and the developing social mind (Cross, 2025) remains crucial in understanding the nuances and interplay of attachment, trauma, and dissociation.
In this context, the journal Attachment: New Directions in Psychotherapy and Relational Psychoanalysis has been invaluable over the last eighteen years. This journal has consistently provided a platform for groundbreaking thinking and clinical insights that deepen our understanding of how early relational experiences shape our emotional and psychological landscapes.
The Covid-19 pandemic heightened a climate of disconnection, leading many to retreat from face-to-face interactions. This underscores the importance of ensuring we can maintain the importance of fostering healthy relational connections. Healthy relationships are foundational not just for individual well-being but are also the “glue” needed for community cohesion and collective good mental health.
As we grapple with the aftermath of a global crisis such as Covid-19, the world at large feels in dire need of empathy, compassion, and relational understanding. These have never felt so urgent and important.
Moreover, the journey of knowledge dissemination in the world is often gradual. Ideas and theories take time to percolate through to new generations, to be challenged, to find a place in clinical practice, and to be embraced as relevant in the real world. We need to commit to the maintenance of creative thinking, and this is the rich tapestry and legacy of what the journal Attachment has brought over the last eighteen years.