This interesting and well written book albeit a translation, bringing attachment right into the heart of informing treatment.
Daniel covers the background to attachment research, from Bowlby, Ainsworth, Main, Lyons-Ruth, Hazan and Shaver, Mikulincer etc. She links Bowlby's theories of biological/ ethological/ psychoanalytic writings to modern day neuroscience. Ainsworth's strange situation procedure is covered demonstrating the relationship between the attachment systems of mothers and their children. Daniel mentions the often neglected aspect that it is the relationship with attachment figures not the child itself which is fundamental and that a child and father and a child and mother or other attachment figure can vary according to that relationship and is not determined genetically but rather is a psychological inheritance passed down through generations. Daniel also reiterates that attachment is a life- long process and that what has begun in childhood continues to be demonstrated or altered in adulthood as an internal working model of relationships.
Both channels of attachment research are covered, i.e. is developmental psychology stemming from Bowlby using the Adult Attachment Interview and social psychology research which uses self-report measures. It is noted that confusion exists between the terminology used in both methodologies where the same label can be used differently in each area of research. Daniel gives enough detail of both streams to help the reader understand the differences and similarities clearly and when it is best to use one rather than the other. There is some repetition of what attachment is across chapters but perhaps that is an acknowledgement that readers will not read every chapter or that an orientation for the reader is required at more than one point. Either way, this does not detract from each chapter. She also points out that this book is about attachment patterns for use in treatment and not research and that the treatment provider can be considered a secure base should the contact between them be long enough and the attachment styles of both client and therapist suit the developmental process. However, Daniel also points out that the relationship with a therapist as a secure base can never be the same as between parent and child. Further, a therapist has an attachment style too which needs understanding in the treatment context.
There are four full chapters on the Main's attachment styles that give a good understanding of how each of the four attachment classifications of: secure/avoidant/ ambivalent and disorganised present in interview.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Judy Faulkner. E-mail
Daniel clearly links attachment to treatment by indicating how different attachment styles require different approaches by the therapist and that some tools used for assessment of attachment style s may be less threatening to a client but that less qualitative information will be gathered, somewhat undermining her thesis of attachment assessment in relation to treatment. Perhaps the concerns about a client feeling threatened relate more to the self-report or observational measures also discussed which again would suggest that while the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) is very time consuming, the outcome is more worthwhile. Indeed, the case is made that markers of attachment style may go unnoticed if the full assessment, coding and classification are not carried out.
The major part of this book is given over to assessment rather than treatment which somewhat belies the title. There are important markers to note in treatment such as attachment styles varying somewhat according to circumstances but perhaps more emphasis could have been placed on how danger creates an enactment of the main classification in terms of insecure or secure attachment styles.
I wonder if the chapter Adapting Treatment Style would be better placed after a short introduction on attachment, and then followed by the more in depth coverage of attachment patterns and then assessment of such. For people familiar with attachment the chapter on treatment may be more immediately relevant and people new to this area would need to re-read the chapters anyway.
The Adult Attachment Interview is covered well describing how memory systems such as semantic and episodic are drawn on during the interview. A greater differentiation within attachment classifications may have been useful for therapists or treatment providers and to this end Crittenden's Dynamic Maturational Model would have added a great deal to the understanding of how complex people are rather than placing them in Main's four areas of secure, insecure and disorganised. Crittenden's model fills the cannot classify black hole too.
In the chapter on Attachment Patterns as the Focus for Treatment, I couldn't see any reference to Ryle's Cognitive Analytic Therapy which blends both affect and cognition to great effect and can capture both avoidant and ambivalent clients' attachment styles in Sequential Diagrammatic Reformulation (visual mapping of how someone feels, thinks and behaves).
On the whole this is a very accessible book capturing the history, assessment and treatment of clients within an attachment perspective and can be recommended for both an up to date review at the time of writing for people well versed in this area and for people new to Attachment Theory and practice.