Table Of ContentAttachment Theory in Adult
Mental Health
In the (cid:191) fty years since its inception, John Bowlby’s attachment theory has been a
powerful in(cid:192) uence on developmental psychology and, more recently, mental
health. Bringing together the experience of a diverse range of mental health
practitioners and researchers who routinely use attachment theory in their own
work, Attachment Theory in Adult Mental Health provides a guide to using
attachment theory in everyday practice.
Adam N. Danquah and Katherine Berry present a wide-ranging and practical
approach to the topic that includes studies on clinical practice, the provision of
mental health services and accommodating intercultural perspectives. Section
One covers the basics of attachment theory and practice. Section Two presents
clinical problems and presentations, including the treatment of depression, anxiety
disorders, psychosis, personality disorder and eating disorders. Section Three
addresses the needs of speci(cid:191) c populations, discussing the in(cid:192) uence of
sociocultural factors such as gender, ethnicity and age. Finally, Section Four
examines the organisation and the practitioner, including using the theory to
organise services and how individual therapists can integrate their own attachment
histories into their approach.
Including the most up-to-date theories and practice in the (cid:191) eld, Attachment
Theory in Adult Mental Health is an ideal resource for psychologists and
psychological therapists, counsellors, psychiatrists, occupational therapists, social
workers and mental health service managers and commissioners.
Adam N. Danquah is a clinical psychologist in Pennine Care NHS Foundation
Trust, where he works in secondary care adult mental health with adults across the
age range with complex and longstanding mental health problems. He is co-
founder and associate editor of the Ghana International Journal of Mental Health.
Katherine Berry is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Manchester,
funded by the National Institute of Health Research, and a clinical psychologist.
Her main area of expertise is interpersonal relationships in people with a diagnosis
of psychosis.
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Attachment Theory in Adult
Mental Health
A guide to clinical practice
Edited by Adam N. Danquah and
Katherine Berry
First published 2014
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2014 Adam N. Danquah and Katherine Berry
The right of the editors to be identified as the authors of the
editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has
been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Attachment theory in adult mental health : a guide to clinical
practice / edited by Adam N. Danquah and Katherine Berry.
p. ; cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
I. Danquah, Adam N. II. Berry, Katherine.
[DNLM: 1. Object Attachment. 2. Adult. 3. Mental Disorders--
therapy. 4. Psychotherapy--methods. WM 460.5.O2]
RC480.5
616.89’14--dc23
2013016224
ISBN: 978-0-415-68740-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-68741-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-88349-6 (ebk)
Typeset in Times and Gill Sans
by Saxon Graphics Ltd, Derby
Adam – For my family
Katherine – For Jacob and Ethan
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Contents
List of (cid:191) gures x
The editors xi
Contributors xii
Foreword by Brent Mallinckrodt xviii
Acknowledgements xxi
SECTION 1
Attachment theory and practice – the basics
1 Introduction 3
KATHERINE BERRY, ADAM N. DANQUAH AND DAVID WALLIN
2 Attachment theory in therapeutic practice 16
JEREMY HOLMES
SECTION 2
Clinical problems and presentations
3 Attachment theory and compassion focused therapy
for depression 35
PAUL GILBERT
4 Responding to threat: using attachment-related interventions in
cognitive behavioural therapy of anxiety disorders 48
GAIL MYHR
5 Attachment theory and psychosis 63
MATTHIAS SCHWANNAUER AND ANDREW GUMLEY
viii Contents
6 Understanding attachment, trauma and dissociation in
complex developmental trauma disorders 78
KATHY STEELE AND ONNO VAN DER HART
7 Attachment theory and personality disorders 95
KENNETH N. LEVY, KEVIN B. MEEHAN AND CHRISTINA M. TEMES
8 Disorganised attachment in the pathogenesis and the
psychotherapy of borderline personality disorder 113
GIOVANNI LIOTTI
9 Starving for affection: attachment narrative therapy
with eating disorders 129
RUDI DALLOS
10 An attachment perspective on understanding and
managing medically unexplained symptoms 145
ROBERT G. MAUNDER AND JONATHAN J. HUNTER
SECTION 3
Specific populations
11 Bringing a gendered perspective to attachment theory
in therapy 161
SUSIE ORBACH
12 Attachment in African Caribbean families 170
LENNOX K. THOMAS
13 Meeting the mental health needs of older adults using the
attachment perspective 183
CECILIA YEE MAN POON
SECTION 4
The organisation and the individual practitioner
14 Four pillars of security: attachment theory and practice in
forensic mental health care 199
GWEN ADSHEAD AND ANNE AIYEGBUSI
Contents ix
15 Using attachment theory to inform psychologically minded
care services, systems and environments 213
MARTIN SEAGER
16 We are the tools of our trade: the therapist’s attachment
history as a source of impasse, inspiration and change 225
DAVID WALLIN
Index 241
