John Bowlby at the Tavistock

Abstract

Bowlby's best know work at the Tavistock Clinic is his foundational research into attachment relationships. This paper describes his other significant contributions, as a clinician interested in family dynamics and the impact of real events in the genesis of childhood anxieties, and as an institution builder in his role in establishing a psychoanalytically based training in Child Psychotherapy oriented towards public health.

Keywords:

• Child psychotherapy
• post-war developments in the NHS
• family therapy
• the Tavistock child psychotherapy training