What kind of attachment did you have with your parents?
The attachment theory, developed by Bowlby is the base on which different psychologists have done research to se how a mother´s (usually the primary caretaker)behavior influences a child´s attachment to that her.
Bonding begins at birth before language is developed. Therefore an insecure attchment from birth gives the worst emotional consequences which Jeffrey Young explains in his book Reinventing your life. Without the speech, you have even less control over your environment which gives higher levels of anxiety later. During the first two years there is a right hemispheric dominance (the language is in the left half of the brain) and therefore many of the basic attachment patterns are formed in this half of the brain. The amygdala (in the limbic system) interprets the facial expressions of your caregiver, interprets incomning stimuli as good-bad (you can read more about this in ”Rewire your brain by John Arden).
A developmental psychologists called Mary Ainsworth is famous for her experiment where she what kind of attachment small children had with their mothers. The experiment was performed in the following way:
Mothers and their babies were invited in a room with toys when a stranger came entered the room. After that the mother left the room for a short while and then she returned and the stranger left. After that the mothe left the room again leaving the baby alone.
Ainsworth identified different kinds of attachment behaviors through this experiment.
The attachment types are secure, avoidant, ambivalent and disorganized.
To be continued…
Cognitive Behavior Psychologist Monica Emanell
www.kbtemanell.se