Attachment Theory and Research in Clinical Work with Adults is an edited volume that includes several well known authors and researchers in the attachment field, including Mikulincer, Shaver, Cassidy, and Holmes. On the whole, the book provides a sophisticated and comprehensive review of attachment research and practice as it applies to a wide range of areas. The book is unique in that it addresses domains that have not been attended to in other similar volumes, including psychodynamic aspects of attachment in transference and defence, and the application of attachment theory to interpersonal therapy, and application of attachment theory to cognitive behavioural therapy. The chapters provide a nice integration of theoretical concepts, practice applications through case illustrations, and current research to support it. The book would appeal to experienced clinicians, academics and researchers.
The book is divided into five parts: Part I focuses on theoretical foundations, and includes an overview, the therapist as a secure base, attachment and mentalization, and clinical correlates of adult attachment organization. The second part presents measures to assess adult attachment, including interviews such as the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and self-reports. The third part concerns the clinical utility of attachment theory and research, and includes chapters on internal working models and change, an attachment approach to adult psychotherapy, transference and attachment, attachment-related defensive processes, and an attachment perspective on crying in psychotherapy. Part four addresses clinical approaches that include attachment principles such as adult psychotherapy, an interpersonal approach, emotion-focused therapy, and cognitive behavioural therapy. Part five offers future directions for research and clinical practice.
It is a stimulating and refreshing experience to read this book that, as stated previously, offers an unusual integration of attachment theory and research with clinical approaches through extended case vignettes. Of note is the chapter by Jurist and Meehan on attachment mentalization and reflective functioning that provides a clear illustration of how to apply this relatively recent theoretical model. As well, the chapters regarding the use of interviews versus self-reporting measures clarify important differences between these two well-known research methods in the attachment field. It is also intriguing to read about the application of attachment constructs in cognitive behavioural therapy.
Regrettably, the chapters concerning psychodynamic approaches emerge from the more traditional models of object relations and ego psychology, and exclude more recent psychodynamic models such as contemporary self-psychology, intersubjectivity and relational theory, all of which are strongly influenced by infant studies and attachment theory and would have offered a better fit for the book. Even the chapter on interpersonal theory excludes contemporary interpersonal writers and focuses exclusively on Sullivan.
On the whole, the book maintains high standards of scholarship and clinical complexity throughout, and is highly recommended to scholars, researchers and clinicians.
