Attachment Theory, Counseling Process, and Supervision

Abstract

This article is designed to stimulate interest in the clinical utility of attachment theory and examine how its constructs are relevant to counseling and counseling supervision. The initial section illustrates attachment constructs in action and demonstrates how the theory and its related research can be used to conceptualize clients' experience in their emotionally important relationships. The authors then discuss counseling process focusing on the ways attachment theory can contribute to understanding the client-counselor relationship and change strategies. The implications of the central constructs are also explored in relation to counseling supervision. In concluding, the authors discuss research and clinical extensions of attachment theory, alluding briefly to areas that are also extensions of traditional counseling psychology. Throughout, the article's intent is to help the reader appreciate the complexity of attachment theory as well as its science-practice links and its potential contribution to clinical research and service delivery.

Attachment theory within clinical supervision: application of the conceptual to the empirical

“…In previous research these models have proved useful in conceptualizing a person's approach to adult relationships including romantic (Ainsworth, 1989;Fraley & Shaver, 2000), peer (Ainsworth, 1989), psychotherapeutic (Daniel, 2006), and supervisory (Pistole & Watkins, 1995). Secure people differ from the insecure (subsuming preoccupied, dismissive, and fearful) in that their IWMs are positive for both self and other.…”

“…Relational in nature, Bowlby's initial psychoanalytic framework has grown into a transtheoretical examination of relationships in supervision (Pistole & Watkins, 1995;Watkins & Riggs, 2012). Attachment patterns in supervision have begun to be examined in the last twenty years.…”

“…Theoretically, however, there have been many more papers written about this topic, often utilizing case examples as illustrations. Hill (1992), Pistole and Watkins (1995), and Watkins (1995) were the first to consider attachment within the context of supervision. Hill connected the relational process of supervision to attachment all within the context of marital and family psychotherapy.…”

“…Both describe the maladaptive behaviors that insecurely attached trainees may utilize in a supervisory relationship including compulsive self-reliance, anxious attachment, and compulsive care-giving. It was argued that these behaviors could not only negatively impact the relationship between the supervisor and the student, but the parallel process of clinician and client (Bennett, 2008b, Pistole, 2008Pistole & Watkins, 1995;Watkins, 1995). Thereby, it is arguably crucial that examination of this framework continues, with emphasis on empirical evidence, in an effort to maximize client and training outcomes.…”

“…Theoretically, a positive supervisory relationship provides two components of a caregiving bond: a safe haven and a secure base. A safe haven refers to supervisory interventions such as reassurance and comfort, while a secure base can include supervisor actions such as guidance in problem solving and decision-making (Bennett & Saks, 2006;Fitch & Pistole, 2010;Pistole, 2008;Pistole & Watkins, 1995). More discussion of these constructs will take place with regard to supervisor role in attachment.…”