Treating Attachment Disorders: From Theory to Therapy

399 Pages·2012·1.6 MB·English

by  Karl Heinz Brisch

Treating Attachment Disorders

Treating
Attachment Disorders
From Theory to Therapy
SeconD eDiTion
Karl Heinz Brisch
Translated by Kenneth Kronenberg
Foreword by Lotte Köhler
Afterword by Inge Bretherton
THe GUiLFoRD PReSS
new York London
German edition published as Bindungsstörungen:
Von der Bindungstheorie zur Therapie, Klett-Cotta
© 2011 J. G. Cotta’sche Buchhandlung Nachfolger GmbH, Stuttgart
Section V published in German in Bindungen und frühe Störungen der
Entwicklung (K. H. Brisch, Ed.), Klett-Cotta
© 2011 J. G. Cotta’sche Buchhandlung Nachfolger GmbH, Stuttgart
English edition © 2012 The Guilford Press
A Division of Guilford Publications, Inc.
72 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012
www.guilford.com
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written
permission from the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Last digit is print number: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Brisch, Karl Heinz.
[Bindungsstörungen. English]
Treating attachment disorders : from theory to therapy / Karl Heinz Brisch ;
translated by Kenneth Kronenberg ; afterword by Inge Bretherton ;
foreword by Lotte Köhler. -- 2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4625-0483-1 (hardback)
1. Attachment disorder in children. I. Title.
RJ507.A77B7513 2012
618.92′8588--dc23
2012006190
The author has checked with sources believed to be reliable in his efforts to
provide information that is complete and generally in accord with the standards
of practice that are accepted at the time of publication. However, in view of the
possibility of human error or changes in behavioral, mental health, or medical
sciences, neither the author, nor the editor or publisher, nor any other party
who has been involved in the preparation or publication of this work warrants
that the information contained herein is in every respect accurate or complete,
and they are not responsible for any errors or omissions or the results obtained
from the use of such information. Readers are encouraged to confirm the
information contained in this book with other sources.
I dedicate this book to my children,
Verena, Nicola, and Jonathan,
and to my wife, Lizzy.

Through them I learned much about attachment.
Attachment theory regards the propensity to make intimate
emotional bonds to particular individuals as a basic
component of human nature, already present in germinal
form in the neonate and continuing through adult life
in to old age. During infancy and childhood bonds are
with parents (or parent substitutes) who are looked to
for protection, comfort, and support. During healthy
adolescence and adult life these bonds persist, but are
complemented by new bonds, commonly of a heterosexual
nature. Although food and sex sometimes play important
roles in attachment relationships, the relationship exists
in its own right and has a key survival function of its own,
namely protection.
—John BowlBy (1988, pp. 120–121)
About the Author
Karl Heinz Brisch, MD, is a child and adolescent psychiatrist and
psychotherapist, as well as an adult psychiatrist and neurologist and a
specialist in psychosomatic medicine; a training psychoanalyst at the
Psychoanalytic Institute in Stuttgart, Germany; and head of the Depart-
ment of Pediatric Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy at the Dr.
von Hauner Children’s Hospital at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of
Munich, Germany. Dr. Brisch’s primary research is on the development
of infants and children with high-risk conditions and the development
of attachment and its disorders. He has led longitudinal research projects
on attachment disturbances and early psychotherapeutic interventions.
He is a member of the World Association for Infant Mental Health and
of the Society for Research in Child Development. He is president of the
German branch of the German-Speaking Association for Infant Mental
Health (GAIMH). His website is www.khbrisch.de/en.
vii

Acknowledgments
to the english edition
I owe a debt of gratitude to many persons without whose assistance this
English-language edition would never have seen the light of day. I was very
fortunate that Inge Bretherton and Anni Bergmann picked up the newly
published German edition while at a conference in Germany, and after
reading it encouraged me to have it translated into English. Dr. Roland
Knappe of the German publishing house Klett-Cotta sought out financing
for such a translation. Funding from the German cultural agency Inter-
Nationes made the translation possible. I thank Seymour Weingarten of
The Guilford Press for his engaged support and continuing interest. He
made certain that the right people undertook the work, and that it was
completed in good time. I found a most competent and resourceful trans-
lator in Kenneth Kronenberg, who shared with me his editorial consultant,
Eve Golden, MD. He kept in steady contact with me during the translation
process, and I am grateful to him for his sensitivity and hard work. I owe
special thanks to Inge Bretherton. She was indefatigable in reading and
commenting on the various manuscript drafts that landed in her in-box.
In particular, the English version was much improved by her comments
on the theoretical section and by her citation of papers and studies that
appeared after the publication of the German edition.
With all my heart I thank my wife, Lizzy, and my children, Ver-
ena, Nicola, and Jonathan, who, I’m afraid, often had to make do with
less than my full attention while I was working on the translation. I am
deeply grateful for their understanding and encouragement.
ix