Clinical Social Work and Regulation Theory: Implications of Neurobiological Models of Attachment

Abstract

Attachment theory, originally proposed by Bowlby (1969), has experienced a powerful resurgence over the last decade, not only in the mental health field but also in the biological sciences. Originating in an amalgam of psychoanalysis and behavioral biology, attachment theroy is decoptively simple on the surface. It posits that the real relationships of the earliest stage of life indelibly shape us in basic ways, and for the rest of the life span, attachment process lie at the center of all human emotional and social functions. With the current incorporation of neurobiology into the theroy, we now have a deeper understanding of how and why the early social environment influences all later adaptive functions. As a result of the the recent intergration of clinical data with devleopmental and neurobiological researcy, Bowlby's core ideas have been expanded into a therapetuically relevant model of human development: modern attachment/regulation theory. Indeed, in their recent overview of psychoanalytic developmental theorys, Palombo, Bendicsend and Koch (2009) conclude that current neuropsychological attacment theorys are returning to fundamental peychoanalytic questions posed by Freud's model of the the human unconscious.