How Does Psychotherapy Heal?
As we enter a new year, I am thinking of psychotherapy as a wellspring for new beginnings.
At the beginning of a lifetime, the infant forms its first relationship with its mother. The quality of this initial human bond will profoundly influence the nature of the child’s subsequent relationships.
This assertion is a central tenet of the school of psychology known as attachment theory. This theory was formulated by John Bowlby, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst.
Subsequent observational research on infants and mothers established four distinct patterns of attachment: secure, anxious, avoidant and disorganized. Long term follow up study of these infants validated the predictive value of their mode of attachment to their mothers, with regard to the quality of their relationships in later life.
Trauma and neglect are the two most powerful forces leading to disturbances in attachment. Another significant determinant of the infant’s mode of attachment is the mother’s own early life attachment history. This influence undoubtedly accounts for a great deal of transgenerational transmission of trauma.
Environmental influences, however important, are never the whole story, where human development is concerned. Genetic factors may render an infant more or less vulnerable to the effects of early parenting.
Most people seek psychotherapy due to suffering caused by their relationships with others, and/or with themselves. The most important healing influence in psychotherapy is the experience of a healthy, trusting relationship. This environment provides the patient with a “secure base”. This safe haven offers the freedom and engenders the courage for a person to explore and to expand the realms of relationships with others and with the self. The medium of this secure base is the emotional bond between patient and therapist. In therapy as in life, people don’t care what you know unless they first know that you care.
