Sunday, May 1, 2011

ATTACHMENT THEORY


I thought the article from the Chronicle on Attachment Theory in Grad School was interesting especially after what Dr. Corsini taught us in class concerning this interesting theory. Attachment theory states that the most important years in a child's life is when they are between the ages of eighteen months to two years old. The mother or primary caregiver is to respond to the child's every need during this time in the baby's life. This will enable the child to form secure feelings about themselves and others and form secure relationships when they grow up.

Unhealthy attachments form in a child's life when the primary caregiver does not respond to the child's needs between the aforementioned ages. They will form either avoidant, anxious or fearful attachments. In Avoidant attachment the child develops a positive view of himself or herself and a negative view of others. In Anxious attachment the child develops a negative view of himself and a positive view of others. The worst of these unhealthy attachments is the Fearful attachment. This is when the child develops a negative view of himself and a negative view of others.

Knowing this information and looking back at this article, I think it would be good if counseling professors knew which attachment each of their students possess so they can tailor their expectations and solutions to better assisting each student. A better thought might be for the professor to go over this theory initially in class so that counseling Grad students can become aware of who they are and be more inclined to use this information to help them develop healthier relationships with their professors and relationships.



2 comments:

  1. Very interesting post, Lisa. I enjoyed reading it. I think that while it would be nice for each professor to identify and tailor the coursework accordingly, I don't know how efficient this would really be. Perhaps simply spending a day to educate the students on attachment theory and then allow the responsibiity to fall back on the students.

    Attachment theory is fascinating to me. What are your personal thoughts on the ability for a person to change their attachment style throughout life?

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  2. Thank you Rachel for your comments. I think it would be difficult for someone to change their attachment style especially if they were older. They would have to be open to changing what they have always known. Have you done any research on what kind of therapy they would require? I'm assuming the treatment would take a long time.

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