Attachment and Couple

Monograph of the twenty-Second John Bowlby Memorial ConferenceThis monograph draws together contributions from both medical and mental health professionals to explain and explore the concept that puzzling physical pain may be the result of attachment difficulties, including disrupted early attachment relationships and traumatic experiences. Bringing together contributions from psychotherapy, neuroscience and medicine, this volume explores how an understanding of early disrupted attachment relationships, including fear of abandonment, can alleviate chronic physical pain through the therapeutic process. The contributors include Dr Frances Sommer Anderson, whose work has led her to encounter residues of prenatal, perinatal and postnatal emotional trauma and attachment difficulties in the first two years of life within those suffering physical pain. She has been instrumental in bringing medical practitioners and mental health professionals together to discuss this attachment based approach.Dr David Clarke brings a broad medical perspective from his own experience as a physician, whilst Professor Stephen McMahon presents us with the latest research findings on the epigenetics of chronic pain. Dr. Patrick Luyten writes on this theme from the perspective of attachment and the mentalization based approach.This book provides a vital contribution to our understanding of the often perplexing origins of chronic physical pain.