Continuities from infancy to adulthood

A review and definition of attachment theory and research, as it has evolved over time, are offered. The organized categories of attachment are reviewed, and the disorganized category is described. The Adult Attachment Interview is also described. Current attachment theory suggests that security in the presence of another – that is, secure attachment – is part of the same psychic process as the ability to understand the distinction between one’s own mind and the external world. This is a dramatic innovation with rich and varied implications for the psychoanalytic views of psychopathology, clinical technique, and therapeutic action; yet at the same time, it converges with basic analytic values. It corresponds in focus remarkably closely to the everyday conduct of analysis, relying as it does on moment-to-moment efforts to understand the patient’s mind in an appropriately secure environment. Clinical applications are also offered.