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Ebook Resolving Attachmen Injuries

Submitted by antoq on Sat, 02/07/2009 - 08:09

When couples enter therapy, partners have often experienced considerable emotional distress. They report feeling absorbed in negativity toward their partner and trapped in limited ways of relating to one another. The person they used to turn to for comfort and support no longer seems available. Some may react to their distress through blame and criticism, others through distance and withdrawal. Research has indicated that distressed couples report lower levels of adjustment and satisfaction (Collins & Read, 1994; Simpson, 1990), lower levels of intimacy and trust, and higher levels of defensiveness, hypervigilance, and fear of abandonment than non distressed couples (Hazan & Shaver, 1987).

Lower levels of intimacy, trust, and relationship satisfaction often indicate insecure attachment bonds (Hazan & Shaver, 1987). Couples with insecure attachment bonds tend to interact through defensive emotional patterns and block accessibility, trust, and responsiveness (Johnson, 1996). These couples are susceptible to attachment alarms, manifested through behaviors such as protest and hostility, and feelings of despair and detachment (Bowlby, 1969). Secure attachment bonds, on the other hand, have been characterized by emotional affiliation, trust, and accessibility. The secure relationship bond serves as a safe base and buffer against distress (Johnson, 1996).

From a systems perspective, pinpointing a cause of distress and the dissolution of an attachment bond ignores the complexity and context of the relationship. From a client’s point of view, however, significant events can occur which punctuate desultory attachment bond insecurities. Johnson (1996) proposed that distress and attachment insecurities can frequently be traced to a specific incident when one partner feels a strong sense of betrayal by the actions of the other. In therapy, this incident stands as a nodal transition in the couple’s relationship: the injurious event becomes a recurring theme, representing a wound in the attachment bond and marking patterns of mistrust and distress.

Guided by Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), attachment theory, and clinical experience of the developers of EFT, this study tested the utility of attachment injuries as a concept and developed a preliminary model for the resolution of attachment injuries in mildly to moderately distressed couples using EFT as the treatment. The model was developed by task analysis. A conceptual map of expected change processes were refined by an empirically developed map. The results of this study validated the hypothesized concept of attachment injuries and yielded a proposed resolution model of change for couples who sustain an attachment injury.

CONTENTS
List of Tables
Chapter I: Introduction

    Attachment Injury
    Definition of Attachment Injury
    Emotionally Focused Therapy
    Attachment Theory
    Overview of Methodology: Task Analysis
    Research Questions
    Rationale and Summary of The Study

Chapter II: Review of Literature

    Attachment Theory
    Emotionally Focused Therapy
    Methodological Issues in Process Research
    Task Analysis
    Summary

Chapter III: Methodology

    Overview of the Research Design
    Research Questions
    The Resolution of Adult Attachment Injuries Using Task Analysis:
    The Discovery Phase
    Sample Description and Sample Selection Procedures
    Data Collection Procedures
    Description of Pre- and Post-Treatment Instruments
    Description of Process Measurement/Instrumentation
    Data Analysis Process

Chapter IV: Results

    Sample Description
    Research Questions
    How did clients describe the attachment injury before treatment?
    What were the results of the pre-test scores for couples?
    What were the post-test scores and did the scores result in “successful”
      resolvers according to the measures’ norms?

    What were the results of the SASB and ES process measure scores

      within each marker or phase of resolution?

    How did clients describe the attachment injury

      after the resolution phase of treatment?

    In what ways did the event pathways of the proposed rational model of attachment injury resolution differ from those of the empirical model?
    Summary

Chapter V: Discussion

    Introduction
    Attachment Injury as a Useful Clinical Concept
    Shortcomings
    Future Research

References
Appendix A: Participant Forms
Appendix B: Self-Report Measures
Appendix C: Process Measures
Appendix D: Attachment Injury Measure Self-Report Descriptions
Appendix E: “Best Session” Transcripts for Markers of Change
Appendix F: Post-Treatment AIM Interviews
Vita

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Ebook Resolving Attachmen Injuries in Couples Using Emotionally Focused Therapy

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