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Adult Attachment and Couple Psychotherapy

The 'Secure Base' in Practice and Research

• Edited by Christopher Clulow

• Price: $31.95
• Binding: Paperback (also available in Hardback)
• Pages: 256
• Published by: Routledge
• Publication Date: 2nd November 2000
• Illustrations: 4 line figures
• ISBN: 978-0-415-22416-1

About the Book

Attachment theory has triggered an explosion of research into family relationships, and has provided a conceptual basis for the work of practitioners. Adult Attachment and Couple Psychotherapy brings research and practice perspectives to bear on the adult couple relationship, and provides a framework for assessing and working with secure and insecure partnerships.
Divided into three parts, the book:
* looks at what is meant by secure and insecure attachment in the couple
* describes how theory and research have been applied to practice, and how practice has added to the understanding of the complex problems that couples bring to therapy
* examines the significance of training and the organisation of work for effective practice with couples.
Using vivid illustrations from clinical and community work, Adult Attachment and Couple Psychotherapy offers stimulating reading for all those involved in this field who wish to re-assess their models of practice.

Table of Contents

Foreword. Introduction. Part I: Conceptualising the Couple on Attachment Terms. Fisher, Crandall, Patterns of Relating in the Couple. Crowell, Treboux, Attachment Security in Adult Partnerships. Bartholomew et al, Insecure Attachment and Abusive Intimate Relationships. Cowan, Cowan, A Couple Perspective on the Transmission of Attachment Patterns. Part II: Application to Couple Psychotherapy. Clulow, Attachment Theory and the Therapeutic Frame. Clulow et al, Working with Intangible Loss. Vincent, Clinical Reflections on Unresolved and Unclassifiable States of Mind. Clulow, Attachment, Narcissism and the Violent Couple. Cudmore, Judd, Traumatic Loss and the Couple. Part III: A Secure Base for Practice. Olney, Training Partnerships: Safe Haven or Secure Base? Obholzer, Security and Creativity at Work. Clulow, The Sense of Connection. Appendices.

About the Author(s)

Christopher Clulow is Director of the Tavistock Marital Studies Institute, London, where he practises as a couple psychotherapist, teacher and researcher. He has published extensively on working with couples undergoing change, and about marriage and family life.