Overview of PSA History

Adult Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (APP)
2018-19, 1st Block — Mondays, 8:00-9:15pm
Scot Gibson, MD

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October 22, 2018 — Attachment Theory

[52 pages]

Holmes, J. (2001) Ch 1-3 in The Search for the Secure Base: Attachment Theory and Psychoanalysis. Brunner-Routledge, London. pp1-34

Attachment theory has become increasingly important in psychoanalysis, though it used to be considered a separate field. Holmes’s book, now 17 years old, was written as an attempt at helping bring the two together. The first three chapters, presented here, provide a good summary of John Bowlby’s attachment theory and how it has come to be important for psychoanalytic thought.

Fonagy, P. (2000) Attachment and Borderline Personality Disorder, Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association. 48:1129-1146.

This is a good, straightforward account by Sir Peter of his theory of mentalization and reflective function (which derive from child/infant research and from Bowlby’s attachment theory), the importance of these capacities in the development of the child, and how they are used in his treatment for borderline personality disorder.

Fonagy, along with his frequent co-author Anthony Bateman, have developed their theories into a manualized treatment called “Mentalization-Based Treatment”. Click here for a link to the standard reference for this therapy.