David Wallin develops a theme initially introduced in Jeremy Holmes' chapter; namely the importance of considering the impact upon treatment of the therapist's own attachment history and patterning. Wallin suggests that, as therapists, our ability to generate a secure attachment relationship will be profoundly affected by the legacy of our own attachment relationships - a legacy that is for many of us who choose this work, marked by trauma. The chapter opens by addressing the advantages and vulnerabilities that derive from the therapist's characteristic career trajectory, with its roots in a history of trauma and adaptation to trauma. this adaptation occurs through the 'controlling-caregiving' strategy identified by attachment researchers and also described in Giovanni Liotti's chapter on borderline personality disorder. Wallin explores the ways in which clinicians can identify their own state(s) of mind with respect to attachment and the implications that flow from recognising that they are presently lodged in a state of mind that is secure, dismissing, preoccupied or unresolved. He also describes the uses of mindfulness and mentalising in recognising and working with the enactments of transference and countertransference that arise when the therapist's attachment patterns interlock with those of the client.
Attachment Theory in Adult Mental Health: A GUIDE to Clinical Practice.
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