Creating a Secure Family Base: Some Implications of Attachment Theory for Family Therapy

Abstract

The aim of this article is to make attachment research findings available in a form that family therapists can use. In attachment theory, parents are conceptualized as providing a secure base from which a child can explore. Family therapists, however, need a systemic concept that goes beyond the parent/child dyad. The concept of a secure family base is proposed, in which a network of care is made available for all family members of whatever age so that all family members feel secure enough to explore, in the knowledge that support is available if needed. Factors that contribute to the security or insecurity of the family base are outlined. The overall aim of therapy is to establish a secure family base from which the family can explore new solutions to family problems both during and after therapy. The role of the therapist is to help to resolve conflicts that threaten relationships, and to explore relevant belief systems that may be contributing to a sense of insecurity. The conceptual framework presented allows for an integration of family therapy techniques and ideas into a coherent whole. A new school of family therapy is not proposed.

Attachment narrative therapy: integrating ideas from narrative and attachment theory in systemic family therapy with eating disorders

“…Arguably there are multiple attachment relationships in families and this has been lucidly discussed by Byng-Hall (1995 who has documented some of the complexities and contradictions for the child when the parents demonstrate different styles. An overview of the literature on attachment theory (Steele, 2002) primary attachment is most likely to be with the mother, although this observation itself needs to be considered further since even where the father has less to do with the child, his relationship with the mother may in turn influence the child.…”

“…However, her attention may fluctuate and be unreliable since she may be distracted and tense as a consequence of marital conflicts. Byng-Hall (1995 has here described the important reversal processes whereby a child can take on the role of being a carer for a needy/dependent parent. In fact he has been influential in pointing out that attachment is always a two-way process in that the parent is also attached to, and has attachment needs met, by the child.…”

“…However, there is a great danger in offering a critical and blaming model of families, and especially mothers in these models. Not least there is the need to identify and pursue the possible origins of the mother's own anxieties and insecurities in clinical work (Doane and Diamond, 1994;Byng-Hall, 1995). For example, many mothers experience considerable anxiety at not being a 'good enough' mother.…”

Invasive partners: an exploration of attachment, communication and family patterns

“…Moreover, it suggests that their range of applicability is very wide. Jealous behaviour, for example, has many ramifications, being associated both with the tendency of families in trouble to form segmented systems on the assumption that 'two is company, three's none', and also with the fact that such families often resist their members associating with outsiders (Minuchin, 1974;Doane et al, 199 1 ;Byng-Hall, 1995;McCluskey and Bingley Miller, 1995). This fact of itself loosens the social control over the family, creates considerable difficulties for family therapists attempting to gain access to such families and often makes things worse.…”

“…Thus they reduce the ability of their attachment figure to give them unpleasant surprises by following this person around, restricting their communication and interfering with their ability to make relationships with others -a pattern of behaviour analogous to that which Byng-Hall (1995) describes as 'capturing'.…”