As our readers may remember, we are doing a series on attachment styles. However, if you are reading our blog for the first time, I will do a little bit of review of what attachment styles are, and why knowing yours vital to your adult relationships.
John Bowlby and Attachment Theory
John Bowlby was a psychoanalyst who lived in Britain and spent his life observing infants separated from their caregivers (from now on I will refer to the caregiver as a mother although caregiver can mean any other adult who is at the center of a child’s life).
His research centered around trying to understand the distress experienced by very young children upon separation from their mothers. He also studied the lengths to which these babies would resort to prevent separation from their mother or to reestablish being close to her when she had been gone.
Bowlby’s research revealed that the same expressions and behaviors of human infants were found in a variety of mammals and thought that these behaviors serve an evolutionary function. Bowlby postulated that what was he was observing were attachment behaviors and that they were adaptive. He believed these behaviors were to prevent separation from the mother who provides support and protection to infants who were helpless and dependent on her for life.
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For more information on CPTSD, including resources and materials to help in healing and living with Complex PTSD symptoms, head over to CPTSDfoundation.org.
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