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Clinical Social Work and Regulation Theory: Implications of Neurobiological Models of Attachment

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Adult Attachment in Clinical Social Work

Part of the book series: Essential Clinical Social Work Series ((ECSWS))

Abstract

Attachment theory, originally proposed by Bowlby (1969), has experienced a powerful resurgence over the last decade, not only in the mental health field but also in the ­biological sciences. Originating in an amalgam of psychoanalysis and behavioral biology­, attachment theory is deceptively simple on the surface. It posits that the real relationships of the earliest stage of life indelibly shape us in basic ways, and, for the rest of the life span, attachment processes lie at the center of all human emotional and social functions. With the current incorporation of neurobiology into the theory, we now have a deeper understanding of how and why the early social environment influences all later adaptive functions. As a result of the recent integration of clinical data with developmental­ and neurobiological research, Bowlby’s core ideas have been expanded into a therapeutically relevant model of human development: modern attachment/regulation theory. Indeed, in their recent overview of psychoanalytic developmental theories, Palombo, Bendicsen, and Koch (2009) conclude that current neuropsychological attachment theories are returning to the fundamental psychoanalytic questions posed by Freud’s model of the human unconscious.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In this chapter, we equate “unconscious” with “nonconscious,” that is, implicit functions that occur beneath levels of awareness not because they are repressed but because they are too rapid to reach consciousness.

  2. 2.

    Throughout this chapter, we refer to “mother” interchangeably with “primary caregiver(s).” We are referring to the primary attachment figure, although we recognize that the infant’s primary attachment figure may not be the mother.

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported by a grant from the FHL Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Sanville Institute for Clinical Social Work and Psychotherapy, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Judith R. Schore

  2. Reiss-Davis Post Doctoral Program in Child Psychotherapy, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Judith R. Schore

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  1. Judith R. Schore
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  2. Allan N. Schore
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Correspondence to Judith R. Schore .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , National Catholic School for Social Serv, The Catholic University of America, Washington, 20064, District of Columbia, USA

    Susanne Bennett

  2. Sanville Institute, Sixth Street 2110, Berkeley, 94710, California, USA

    Judith Kay Nelson

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Schore, J.R., Schore, A.N. (2011). Clinical Social Work and Regulation Theory: Implications of Neurobiological Models of Attachment. In: Bennett, S., Nelson, J. (eds) Adult Attachment in Clinical Social Work. Essential Clinical Social Work Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6241-6_4

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