Adult Attachment in Clinical Social Work: Practice, Research, and Policy

274 Pages·2011·3.008 MB·English

by  Susanne Bennett, Judith Kay Nelson (auth.), Susanne Bennett, Judith Kay Nelson (eds.)

Adult Attachment in Clinical Social Work
Essential Clinical Social Work Series
Series Editor: Carol Tosone
For other titles published in this series, go to
www.springer.com/series/8115
Susanne Bennett Judith Kay Nelson
●
Editors
Adult Attachment in Clinical
Social Work
Practice, Research, and Policy
Editors
Susanne Bennett Judith Kay Nelson
National Catholic School of Social Service The Sanville Institute for
The Catholic University of America Clinical Social Work and Psychotherapy
Washington, DC, USA Berkeley, CA, USA
[email protected] [email protected]
ISBN 978-1-4419-6240-9 e-ISBN 978-1-4419-6241-6
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-6241-6
Springer New York Dordrecht Heidelberg London
Library of Congress Control Number: 2010935722
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010
All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written
permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY
10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection
with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar
or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden.
The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are
not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject
to proprietary rights.
Printed on acid-free paper
Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
With gratitude to:
Catherine “Cay” Hartley
– C. S. B.
To the memory of:
Elise “Lise” Silverman Blumenfeld
– J. K. N.

Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge Dr. Carol Tosone, the Editor of Clinical Social Work
Journal, for her support, advice, and encouragement in the creation of this book.
We also appreciate the contributors for their professionalism, cooperation, and
careful attention to detail. They were delightful collaborators, and their hard work
was much appreciated. Our editor at Springer, Jennifer Hadley, has also been a
wonderful support to us through the publication process, for which we are most
grateful.
We would like to thank the many colleagues who have been part of our journey
in the realm of attachment theory and research, the students who have been so
enthusiastic and interested, and the clients who are our best teachers. Our partners,
adult children, and siblings at the center of our attachment circle are our primary
supports with writing, in general, and with the production of this book, in particular.
It is, however, our grandchildren Esther and Aurelia, just beginning to establish
their “internal working models” of attachment, who have been our inspiration.
vii

Contents
1 Introduction ............................................................................................... 1
Susanne Bennett and Judith Kay Nelson
Part I Theory Development Regarding Adult Attachment
2 The Origins of an Attachment Approach to Social Work
Practice with Adults .................................................................................. 17
Pat Sable
3 Contemporary Theory and Research on Adult Attachment:
Where is the Field Today? ........................................................................ 31
Susanne Bennett and Judith Kay Nelson
4 Clinical Social Work and Regulation Theory: Implications
of Neurobiological Models of Attachment .............................................. 57
Judith R. Schore and Allan N. Schore
Part II Applications to Adult Clinical Practice
5 Separation, Loss, and Grief in Adults:
An Attachment Perspective ...................................................................... 79
Judith Kay Nelson
6 Listening Closely: The Significance of the Therapist’s
Voice Intensity, Rhythm, and Tone .......................................................... 97
Kristin Miscall Brown and Dorienne Sorter
7 Using a Mentalization-Based Framework to Assist
Hard-to-Reach Clients in Individual Treatment .................................... 113
Christine H. Fewell
ix
x Contents
8 Attachment and Caregiving for Elders
Within African-American Families ....................................................... 127
Susanne Bennett, Michael J. Sheridan, and Barbara Soniat
9 Attachment in the Family Context: Insights
from Development and Clinical Work .................................................. 147
Janet Shapiro
10 Applications of Attachment Theory to Group Interventions:
A Secure Base in Adulthood ................................................................... 173
Timothy F. Page
Part III Attachment Applications to Policy, Research, and Education
11 Policy Implications of Attachment Processes in Adulthood:
Caregiving and Family Preservation ..................................................... 195
Joyce E. Everett
12 Attachment Research: Contributions of Social Workers .................... 217
Joanna E. Bettmann and Rachael A. Jasperson
13 Implications of Attachment Theory for Social Work Education ........ 253
Susanne Bennett and Kathleen Holtz Deal
Index ................................................................................................................. 267