Attachment and Relational Psychoanalysis: Bowlby According to Mitchell

Abstract

In our contribution we would like to highlight that the model formulated by Mitchell in his last book entitled Relationality seems to suggest that he had come to realize that he could not exclude attachment theory entirely from his theoretical framework. Some of the most interesting interpretations of it—post-Bowlbian interpretations—regarded the dynamics of early attachment as a fundamental model of emotional regulation. We think that in Italy there has always been a significantly widespread sensitivity toward developmental and attachment themes also in more strictly psychoanalytic contexts, hence the specific slant of our reading of the most recent developments in relational psychoanalysis.

Notes

¹ One should also bear in mind that the identification of disorganized categories of adult attachment – and the correlated hypotheses (Liotti, 1992; Main & Hesse, 1992) – has led to a renewed interest for the psychoanalytic constructs of fantasy, representation and internalization, thus contributing to further reconnect psychoanalysis and attachment (Main, 1993, 1995). More recently, this interest has introduced an area of investigation aimed to study the nature of representations, on the developmental level, as well as in clinical enquiry (for instance, Diamond et al., 2003b), associated with the adult disorganized state of mind which today represents one of the most interesting areas of clinical integration of attachment theory.

² This point raises an important theoretical question regarding the autonomous nature, on the motivational level, of intersubjectivity (Stern, 2004). In the last few years, the theme of intersubjectivity has drawn more and more the attention of relational authors, to the point of bringing about a veritable “intersubjective turn” in psychoanalysis (Gerhardt & Sweetnam, 2001; Gerhardt, Sweetnam & Borton, 2000, 2003). On the one hand this has produced a series of distinct theoretical approaches (Benjamin 1988, 1995; Beebe et al., 2005; Fonagy et al., 2002; Ogden, 1994; Atwood & Stolorow, 1992), which more recently led to the proposal of placing intersubjectivtiy – defined as “the ability to be motivated by the subjectivity of another” (Drozek, 2010, p. 541) – at the basis of the relational motivational theory. On the other hand, it led to raising the question, which was also the object of debate in literature (e.g., Cortina & Liotti, 2010; Gergely & Unoka, 2008; Jurist, 2008), of the relationship between attachment and intersubjectivity. Connie’s case allows us to highlight, at least on the anecdotal level, the separate nature of these motivational systems. In Connie’s treatment it was the possibility of focusing on her attachment needs to allows for the “expansion of the qualities of intersubjectivity;” which, in turn, made it possible to experience new ways of being in a relationship. In this sense, an increased attachment security and expansion of intersubjectivity represent two distinct therapeutic goal.

³ Strangely enough, while Mitchell grasps in the distancing and “professional” quality of the patient’s initial attitude an echo of her early experiences in boarding school (2000, p. 112), he does not associate this latter theme with Connie’s relationship with the attachment figure of her father. This is an example of how the possibility of placing a motivational assumption at the center of one’s clinical reflection can make it easier to organize the material brought by the patient.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Francesco De Bei

Francesco De Bei, Ph.D., is a psychotherapist in private practice. He is a Member of the International Association of Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy (IARPP).

Nino Dazzi

Nino Dazzi, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus Dynamic Psychology University of Rome “La Sapienza,” Board Member Associazione Italiana di Psicologia (Italian Association of Psychology), Honorary Member Society for Emotion and Attachment Studies (SEAS), and Member of the International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy (IARPP).