Attachment problems in childhood and consequences for therapeutic relationships mirrored in transference and countertransference

Decades of research indicate that the provision of therapy is an interpersonal process in which a main curative component is the nature of the therapeutic relationship. Clinicians must remember that this is the foundation of our efforts to help others. The improvement of psychotherapy may best be accomplished by learning to improve one's ability to relate to clients and tailoring that relationship to individual clients (Lambert, 2001).
The basic capacity to create an affectional bond during therapy is built early in life. Bowlby was the first to state that infants may internalize unintegrated internal working models of their relationships with their primary caregivers and of themselves in relation to those caregivers. Neurobiological research shows that early relationships are crucial to human brain maturation, well-being, affect regulation and self-other schema.
If the essential task of the first years of human life, the creation of a secure attachment bond a secure attachment bond of emotional communication between the infant and primary caregiver is only partially or not achieved, more maladaptive attachment schemes will be built and clients will show problems to establish a trustful and cooperative therapeutic relationship.
In this workshop we want to discuss the neurobiological impact of different attachment styles and explore consequences of maladaptive attachment pattern later in life and as obstacles in the therapeutic relationship, seen as difficulties in the transference and countertransference.

Conference

English

Helga Matthess
Parichawan Chandasiri

Matthess, H., & Chandasiri, P. (2014, January). Attachment problems in childhood and consequences for therapeutic relationships mirrored in transference and countertransference. Preconference presentation at the 2nd EMDR Asia International Conference, Manilla, The Philippines