The Applications of Attachment Theory to Psychotherapy

Attachment: A modern evolutionary perspective and its relevance to psychotherapy

One of Bowlby’s paradigm-changing insights was to realise that to understand attachment we need to be aware of the evolutionary forces that have shaped human bodies and minds. However when Bowlby was formulating attachment theory, evolutionary studies of behavior were in their infancy so he had limited research on which to draw. During the last half century, research pertaining to the evolution of attachment dynamics has blossomed. This presentation draws on that research to address questions such as: is maternal love automatic and unconditional or is it shaped by a mother’s physical and social environment? Why are human infants so exquisitely tuned-in to the emotional world of others and so sensitive to possible abandonment? Why does the quality of maternal care effect how infants come to see the world? Why do different attachment patterns exist? Might insecure attachment patterns be evolutionarily adaptive? One aim of this presentation is to show ways in which psychotherapeutic work can be enriched by understanding our species’ evolutionary heritage.