Abstract
Internal working models of attachment are conceptualized as internalizations of interpersonal dynamics involving attachment—schemata derived from secure therapeutic relationships if not established in childhood. The potential for developing internal working models in the absence of adequate attachment history is demonstrated by the case of a dismissing (avoidantly-attached) client with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) abandoned in early childhood. Using the Collective Heart model (Krakauer 2001)—which targets posttraumatic misattributions of power and quickly challenges the client’s perceived brokenness and helplessness—the client formed an intimate bond with a formerly unconscious inner guidance resource experienced as a maternal attachment figure long before a robust therapeutic relationship was established. Verbatim case material illustrates autohypnotic interventions potentiating this “Wise Mother’s” guidance of the client’s identity development and mastery of relational tasks by mining and augmenting fragmentary attachment experiences. Theoretical and clinical implications of the evolution and function of the Wise Mother are discussed.
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Acknowledgments
The author wishes to express gratitude to the client who generously consented to publication of her case material, confirming that these clinical developments have been rendered faithfully despite biographical changes made to preserve her anonymity. The author also wishes to thank Ilana Krakauer and Joan Milkavich for their valuable suggestions in response to an earlier draft of this paper.
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Krakauer, S.Y. Must Internal Working Models be Internalized? A Case Illustrating an Alternative Pathway to Attachment. J Fam Viol 29, 247–258 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-014-9580-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-014-9580-y