Theory Of Attachment

What IS attachment? 

It is an emotional relationship that involves an exchange of comfort, care and pleasure. 

John Bowlby, the Father of Attachment describes it as a lasting psychological connectedness between humans. 

Our early attachment styles are established in childhood through infant/caregiver relationship. 

Characteristics of Attachment:

1. Proximity Maintenance: the desire to be near the people we're attached to. 

2. Safe Haven: returning to the attachment figure for comfort and safety in the face if fear and/or threat. 

3. Secure Base: the attachment figure acts as a base for security from which the child can explore the surrounding environment. 

4. Separation Distress: anxiety appears in the absence of the attachment figure. 

Attachment styles formed during early childhood are not necessarily identical to those identical to adult romantic attachments. 

A great deal of time has passed between infancy and adulthood, so intervening experiences play a large role in adult attachment styles.