John Bowlby proposed the concept of anxious attachment to describe a pattern of personality development and relating to others that reflects fear and anxiety over the availability and responsiveness of attachment figures. The condition is manifest in a proneness to separation anxiety and clinging behavior as well as reluctance, fear and difficulty in exploring new situations or dealing with stress. Bowlby attributes this anxiety to the persistence of the effects of earlier adverse family experiences, especially those of separation and loss or threat of separation or loss. From this perspective, psychotherapy is seen as a relationship offering a secure base from which to explore and begin to understand inner working models of oneself and others in order to modify the meaning given to both current and past events. The concept of anxious attachment respects the natural desire for secure affectional bonds without the negative connotations implicit in dependency.