The influence of attachment theory on my practice Essay

The influence of attachment theory on my practice - Essay Example John Bowlby suggested that attachment keeps an infant close to the mother. It is this closeness that permits the child to accept suckling and other protection mechanisms that the mother provides to increase its chances of survival (Personality Research Organization, 2011). As mentioned above, it was John Bowlby that highlighted the significance of young children establishing attachment with their significant adult. According to Bowlby, attachment is a special psychological and emotional relationship that inculcates an exchange of care, comfort and pleasure. The relationship between a child and an infant a caregiver (parent or a significant adult) created a sense of comfort, care and pleasure. The roots of Bowlby’s research stemmed from Fraud’s theories about love. He researched and shared significant psychoanalytic view that earliest experiences of a child in his early years of development have imperative effects on the child’s development and growth in later yea rs. As such, the theory claims that everyone’s daily interaction and behavior towards other people are phenomena that were established in childhood through early attachments to the caregivers (McLeod, 2012). In addition, Bowlby researched and placed forth a claim that the attachment between one and the world around him underwent evolutionary effect. Evolutionary component of the Attachment Theory enables human beings to survive in the ever dynamic world. According to the researcher, the propensity to create strong emotional bonds to particular people or person is a basic component of every human being. In the view of Bowlby, Attachment Theory displays four distinct characteristics of attachment. Foremost, there is the characteristic of Proximity Maintenance. This refers to the need to be always close to the people one is attached to. A child always misses the closeness of the significant adults they are attached to. The second characteristic is Safe Haven. This characteristic of the theory makes children return to their attachment figures for safety and comfort in the event that they fear or are faced with threats. Children always run to the people they have emotional attachment to in times of danger and grief. There is the concept of Secure Base (McLeod, 2012). As the child explores the surrounding environment and gets to learn people and issues, the attachment figure acts as the base of his security. All issues that present danger and potential harm are reported to the significant adult in a child’s life. Lastly, Attachment Theory has the characteristic of Separation Distress. In the event that the attachment figure or significant adult is absent and far from the child, a feeling of anxiety and distress sets in the child (McLeod, 2012). Bowlby’s Attachment Theory was officially published in the trilogy Attachment and Loss in 1969-82 (Personality Research Organization, 2011). However, there were preliminary papers on the progress of the p sychologist’s research efforts right from 1958. The preliminary reports included the researcher’s expanded field of study to the theory including evolution by natural selection, control systems theory, cognitive psychology, and field of ethnology, evolutionary biology and object relations theory (psychoanalysis). The final publication that was released in 1969 outlined John Bowlby’