The impact of attachment organization on potential countertransference reactions

Abstract

This study sought to further examine correlations between attachment characteristics and the quality of the therapeutic relationship and interactions. Responses of medical students and therapists to the presentation of selected segments from adult attachment interviews (AAIs) were investigated. The AAIs of 3 patients were prototypically assigned to an autonomous, a dismissing, and an enmeshed–preoccupied attachment organization. Those parts of the attachment interviews comprising descriptions of the patients’ mother and father were tape-recorded in a standardized manner and presented according to a procedure used by Horowitz, Rosenberg, and Kalehzan (1992). The responses to the interview segments were assessed using the Impact Message Inventory, a well-being scale, and a countertransference questionnaire. In addition, the individuals described their own attachment styles using the Relationship Questionnaire. Results confirmed the hypothesis that the narratives of patients with different attachment organizations release specific responses in terms of interpersonal and countertransference reactions as well as listeners’ well-being. The medical students did not differ largely from the therapists. A systematic influence of listeners’ attachment style on their countertransference reactions could not be found. The results are discussed with respect to future investigations, focusing on the influence of attachment organization on the quality of the therapeutic relationship.

Annegret Martin, Uwe Berger, and Bernhard Strauss, Institute of Medical Psychology, University Hospital, Friedrich-Schiller University, Jena, Germany; Anna Buchheim, Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Ulm, Ulm, Germany.