Moments of Regulation and the Development of Self-Narratives

My assignment for this conference was to describe how attachment theory and research have affected my clinical or research work. I was asked to do this in 15 minutes! I am someone whose work as a psychoanalytic psychologist has been forever changed by studying attachment processes, and in particular by being trained in the Strange Situation (Ainsworth et al. 1978), the Adult Attachment Interview (Main et al. 1985), and more recently, in assessing reflective functioning (Fonagy et al. 1995). After 20 years of immersion in the language of attachment theory and research, it is hard to be specific any longer about domains of influence: this is just the way I think. Where did that leave me in giving a talk? Obviously, a complete trip down memory lane was out of the question. So I choose to talk about a single idea, one that reflects the impact upon my clinical listening and understanding of not only attachment theory but also infant research. It seems appropriate to begin with an apology to Mary Main, Daniel Stern, and Peter Fonagy. Main's ideas about the development of internal working models and the dynamics of attachment organization (Main 1995, 2000, Main et al. 1985), along with Stern's (1977, 1985, 1997) work on the self-regulating other and the establishment of RIGs and Fonagy and colleagues' work on the reflective function (Fonagy 2000, Fonagy et al. 2002, Fonagy et al. 1995), have completely permeated my thinking. The echoes of their work, and that of their many distinguished colleagues in both attachment and infant study (many of whom are represented in this volume), are everywhere in the thoughts described in this chapter.

What I would like to talk about is how our patients' narratives about affect, about relationships, and about careseeking reveal critical aspects of the dynamics of care and arousal in their earliest relationships. The narrative structure of our patients' talking allows us to imagine the struggles and triumphs of their attempts to gain comfort