Attachment Theory and the Psychoanalytic Process

Attachment Theory and the Psychoanalytic Process. Edited by Mauricio Cortina and Mario Matrone. Whurr Publishers, Ltd., London, 2003,490 pp., $31.95

This book provides a major and much needed introduction to the nature and implications of attachment theory, and to the clinical as well as theoretical integration of that theory with psychoanalysis and psychodynamics. It is difficult to overstate the importance of the addition of attachment theory to the psychoanalytic armamentarium. As Phil Mollon states in his forward to this truly international elaboration of the work of John Bowlby and his followers;"-attachment theory and associated research have evolved to a point where an appreciation of their clinical implications can now be considered essential for the effective and responsible practice of the well-informed psychotherapist or psychoanalyst (xvii)."

In the spirit of such an appreciation, this book meets many unspoken needs of psychodynamically oriented therapists, and goes a long way towards integrating attachment theory with the clinical enterprise. Attachment theory has been relatively unknown to large numbers of psychodynamic psychotherapists; those unfamiliar with it will be surprised at its vast implications for clinical practice. The theoretical implications of attachment investigation and research are additionally vast. The introductory chapter of this book lays out a succinct summary of theoretical markers of attachment theory: as a theory of normal development, of psychopathology, of motivation, of sociopsychological interactions, as a theory of the representation of experience within memory systems, as a theory of anxiety, as a theory of affects and emotions, as a theory of defense, as a theory of the self, and as an explanation of the intergenerational transmission...