Attachment Theory

What it is:

Attachment theory originated with the work of John Bowlby who explored that attachment between mother and child and developmental processes. Later Mary Ainsworth developed the concept of a secure base, a safe place for the infant to return to after disruption and an attachment “schema,” a mental representation of the responsive parent. In a limbic/right hemisphere connection, the mother responds to the emotional state of the infant in an infant-led orchestration, with the mother returning the infant to homeostasis from the whole bandwidth of arousal states. In addition, that contact transmits basic expectations about self, others and life to the infant that are either adaptive or maladaptive. A secure, responsive relationship between parent and infant facilitates psychosocial development and favors resiliency. Repeated contact with a responsive parent regulates the infant’s maturing regulatory systems and “programs” the emotional and behavioral responses of the offspring. A responsive connection between parent and child promotes a secure attachment and predictive of resiliency in adulthood and a permissive, neglectful or abusive connection between parent and infant is considered an insecure connection and promotes vulnerability to stress. There is a 70 percent transmission rate of attachment style between parent and child which favors the intergenerational consistency in stress symptoms and developmental rewards. Later research by UCLA’s Allan N. Schore and Daniel Siegel explored the effects of secure attachment on brain development, affect regulation and mental health, as well as the neurobiological basis for development.

How it is applied in the Solution Method:

Secure attachment is based on effective dyadic regulation and the Solution Method trains people in effective self-regulation. The 5-Point System mirrors parental responsivity in each of the emotional states from homeostasis through a full blown stress response. Repeated practice in the method is hypothesized to decrease the strength and dominance of neural circuits of maladaptive regulation and increase the strength and dominant of neural circuits of adaptive regulation, including basic expectations and a secure base.