Organizing Principles of Interaction from Infant Research and the Lifespan Prediction of Attachment: Application to Adult Treatment*

In this paper we apply organizing principles of interaction documented in face-to-face interactions in infancy to both the implicit and explicit dimensions of therapeutic interaction in psychoanalysis. In our previous work we approached interaction with a dyadic systems model of communication (Beebe and Lachmann 2002, Beebe et al. 1992). In this view all communication is coconstructed by both partners, although not necessarily in symmetrical ways. We used the dyadic systems model to define organizing principles of interaction for psychoanalysis. The most general of these organizing principles entails the integration of self- and interactive regulation, which are simultaneous, complementary, and optimally in dynamic balance. We further differentiated “three principles of salience”: ongoing regulation, disruption and repair, and heightened affective moments, each of which refines our understanding of the nature of self- and interactive regulation (Beebe and Lachmann 1994). In this paper we extend the concept of organizing principles of interaction in psychoanalysis to vocal rhythm coordination, facial mirroring, and distress regulation. The concept of organizing principles can further specify the details of how interactions are regulated.

Infant research has shown that vocal rhythm coordination, facial mirroring, and distress regulation in the early months of life predict infant attachment at one year. These three patterns organize the nonverbal, implicit