Attachment and Intersubjectivity

Authors

  • Ian Owen Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.65828/30w3ff45

Abstract

To say one’s practice is influenced by attachment research is a respectable claim. Yet the understanding of attachment is often muddied by natural psychological science’s focus on material being. Thus, conscious psychological senses and processes are discussed in terms of causative neurological development. Gaining an accurate understanding of attachment has an important role in addressing complex psychological phenomena, particularly when there is no consensus on how to proceed. How are attachment and intersubjectivity accurately identifiable? Intersubjectivity is capable of explaining attachment yet both terms need better definition and interrelation. This paper does not solve the problem of how to understand attachment and intersubjectivity. Rather, it attempts to demonstrate a series of problems in understanding attachment, everyday life and therapy as intersubjective. A scepticism is held concerning interpreting unconscious objects without relation to conscious ones. Consciousness is not an epiphenomenon. It is what needs explaining. Key words Attachment, intersubjectivity, co-empathy, interpretative stance.

Full text available
Complete access to the full archive of articles is available with SEA membership. Existing members: please log in with your membership password to view full text. Non-members can buy a single article or issue by registering an account on this website, then selecting a padlocked full text button to purchase.

References

Ainsworth, M.D.S. (1970). Object relations, dependency and attachment: A theoretical review of the infant-mother relationship. Child Development, 40, 969-1025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1127008

Ainsworth, M.D.S., Blehar, M.C., Waters, E. & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315802428

Ainsworth, M.D.S. & Wittig, B.A. (1969). Attachment and the exploratory behavior of one-year olds in a strange situation. In Foss, B.M. (ed) Determinants of Infant Behaviour, Vol. 4. (pp. 113-136). London: Methuen. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203781791-12

Aitken, K.J. & Trevarthen, C. (1997). Self/other organization in human psychological development. Development & Psychopathology, 9, 653-677. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954579497001387

Allen, J. (1976). A Husserlian phenomenology of the child. Journal of Phenomenological Psychology, 6, 164-179. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/156916276x00052

Allen, J.G., Huntoon, J., Fultz, J., Stein, H., Fonagy, P. & Evans, R.B. (2001). A model for brief assessment of attachment and its application to women in inpatient treatment for trauma-related psychiatric disorders. Journal of Personality Assessment, 76, 421-447. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa7603_05

Bartholomew, K. (1990). Avoidance of intimacy: An attachment perspective. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 7, 147-178. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407590072001

Bartholomew, K. (1997). Adult attachment processes: Individual and couple perspectives. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 70, 249-263. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8341.1997.tb01903.x

Bischof-Köhler D. (1988). Über den zusammenhang von empathie und der fahigkeit, sich in spiegel zu erkennen. Schweizerische Zeitschift fur Psychologie, 47, 147-159.

Blatt, S.J., Auerbach, J.S. & Levy, K.N. (1997). Mental representations in personality development, psychopathology, and the therapeutic process. Review of General Psychology, 1, 351-374. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//1089-2680.1.4.351

Bowlby, J. (1958). The nature of the child's tie to his mother. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 39, 350-373.

Bowlby, J. (1977). The making and breaking of affectional bonds. British Journal of Psychiatry, 130, 201-210, 421-431. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.130.5.421

Bowlby, J. (1980). Attachment and loss, vol. 3: Loss, sadness and depression. New York: Basic Books.

Bowlby, J. (1988). A Secure Base. New York: Basic Books. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203440841

Brennan, K.A., Clark, C.L., & Shaver, P.R. (1998). Self-report measurement of adult attachment: An integrative overview. In J.A. Simpson & W.S. Rholes (Eds) Attachment Theory and Close Relationships. (pp. 46-75). New York: Guilford.

Brisch, K.H. (1999). Treating Attachment Disorders: From Theory to Therapy. New York: Guilford.

Diamond, N. & Marrone, M. (2003). Attachment and Intersubjectivity. London: Whurr.

Fonagy, P. (1999a). Points of contact and divergence between psychoanalytic and attachment theories: Is psychoanalytic theory truly different. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 19, 448-480. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07351699909534264

Fonagy, P. (1999b). Psychoanalytic theory from the viewpoint of attachment theory and research. In J. Cassidy and P.R. Shaver (Eds) Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications. (pp. 595-624). New York: Guilford.

Freud, S. (1926). Inhibitions, Symptoms and Anxiety. The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud, vol 20. (pp 87-175). London: Hogarth. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429477836-2

Hardy, G.E., Aldridge, J., Davidson, C., Rowe, C. & Reilly, S. (2004). Assessing and formulating attachment issues and styles in psychotherapy. British Journal of Psychotherapy, 20, 493-512. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0118.2004.tb00167.x

Heard, D.H. & Lake, B. (1986). The attachment dynamic in adult life. British Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 430-438. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.149.4.430

Heard, D.H. & Lake, B. (1997). The Challenge of Attachment for Care Giving. London: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429481260

Hesse, E. & Main, M. (1999). Second-generation effects of unresolved trauma in nonmaltreating parents: Dissociated, frightened, and threatening parental behavior. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 19, 481-540. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07351699909534265

Main, M. (1985) An adult attachment classification system: Its relation to infant-parent attachment. Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Toronto, April.

Marris, P. (1996) The Politics of Uncertainty: Attachment in Private and Public Life. London: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203360293

McCluskey, U. (2005). To Be Met As A Person: The Dynamics of Attachment in Professional Encounters. London: Karnac. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429484063

Merleau-Ponty, M. (1964). The child's relations with others. In Edie, J.M. (ed) The Primacy of Perception: And Other Essays on Phenomenological Psychology, the Philosophy of Art, History and Politics. Trans. Cobb, W. (pp. 96-155). Evanston: Northwestern University Press.

Owen, I.R. (2000). Husserl's theory of meaning: Meaning arrives with the other. Journal of the Society for Existential Analysis, 11, 11-31. DOI: https://doi.org/10.65828/nsmkwb02

Owen, I.R. (2003). What the analysis of empathy in the Fifth Cartesian Meditation reveals for psychotherapy. Unpublished doctoral thesis. London: Regents College, School of Psychotherapy and Counselling. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.18530812.8

Perner, J. (1991). Understanding the Representational Mind. Cambridge: MIT Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/6988.001.0001

Renik, O. (2004). Intersubjectivity in psychoanalysis. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 85, 1053-1056. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1516/0020757042259683

Rogers, C.R. (1959). A theory of therapy, personality, and interpersonal relationships as developed in the client-centred framework. In Koch, S. (ed) Psychology: A Study of a Science, Vol 3. (pp. 184-256). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Simpson, J.A. & Rholes, W.S. (1998). Attachment in adulthood. In Simpson, J.A. & Rholes, W.S. (eds) Attachment Theory and Close Relationships. (pp. 3-21). New York: Guilford Press.

Sroufe, L.A. (1983). Infant-caregiver attachment and patterns of attachment in pre-school: The roots of maladaptive competence. In Perlmutter, M. (ed) Minnesota Symposium on Child Psychology, Vol. 16. (pp. 41-83). Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Stein, H., Koontz, A.D., Fonagy, P., Allen J.G., Fultz, J., Brethour, J.R., Allen, D. & Evans, R.B. (2002). Adult attachment: What are the underlying dimensions? Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 75, 77-91. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1348/147608302169562

Stern, D.N. (1985). The Interpersonal World of the Infant: A View from Psychoanalysis and Developmental Psychology. New York: Basic Books. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429482137

Tyson, P. (1996). Object relations, affect management, and psychic structure formation: The concept of object constancy. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 51, 172-189. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00797308.1996.11822426

Walker, S.F. (1984). Learning Theory and Behaviour Modification. London: Methuen. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315206622

Walker, S.F. (1987). Animal Learning Theory: An Introduction. London: R & KP.

Published

2006-01-01

Cite This Article

Attachment and Intersubjectivity. (2006). Existential Analysis: Journal of the Society for Existential Analysis, 17(1), 14-38. https://doi.org/10.65828/30w3ff45
Download: RIS · BibTeX

Articles by the same author(s)