Dr. John Deri’s next Blog Talk Radio Show: Healthy Mind and Body will be on Wednesday, January 6, 2010 from 8-8:30 PM PDT.

The topic of the episode will be:  How Does Psychotherapy Heal?

Psychotherapy is a wellspring for new beginnings. At the beginning of a lifetime, the infant forms its first relationship with its mother. The quality of this first 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.

During the Blog Talk Radio Show Dr. Deri will discuss:

(1) The four distinct patterns of attachment:  secure, anxious, avoidant and disorganized.

(2) The effect of an infant’s mode of attachment to its mother on the quality of that individual’s subsequent relationships.

(3) How trauma and neglect lead to disturbances in attachment.

(4) How the mother’s own early life attachment history serves as a medium for the transgenerational transmission of trauma.

(5) How does psychotherapy heal?  

To listen to the show you can:

Dial the phone in telephone number at (347) 989-0560

OR

Tune in to our online channel at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Healthy-Mind-Body

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.