Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-5nwft Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-21T05:25:30.972Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Bowlby's trilogy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2023

Jeremy Holmes*
Affiliation:
A consultant psychiatrist and medical psychotherapist at UCL, London, and in north Devon, UK. He researched the life and work of John Bowlby with the help of a Wellcome Trust fellowship. He was chair of the Faculty of Psychotherapy of the Royal College of Psychiatrists between 1998 and 2002 and is an Honorary Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Exeter, UK. Author of over 250 peer-reviewed papers and 21 books, he was recipient of a Bowlby-Ainsworth Founders Award in 2009.
*
Correspondence Jeremy Holmes. Email: j.a.holmes@btinternet.com

Summary

John Bowlby's ‘Attachment and Loss’ trilogy set the scene for half a century of attachment research and theorising. This article picks out the key themes of his work – the attachment dynamic, the impact of trauma and life events, defensive exclusion, loss and bereavement, and internal working models – and points to their continuing relevance.

Type
Memory Lane
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Royal College of Psychiatrists

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bateman, A, Fonagy, P (2016) Mentalization-Based Treatment for Personality Disorders: A Practical Guide. OUP.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowlby, J (1969) Attachment and Loss. Volume 1: Attachment. Hogarth Press/Institute of Psycho-Analysis.Google Scholar
Bowlby, J (1973) Attachment and Loss. Volume 2: Separation, Anxiety and Anger. Hogarth Press/Institute of Psycho-Analysis.Google Scholar
Bowlby, J (1980) Attachment and Loss. Volume 3: Loss, Sadness and Depression. Hogarth Press/Institute of Psycho-Analysis.Google Scholar
Cassidy, J, Shaver, P (eds) (2018) Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research, and Clinical Applications (3rd edn). Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Duschinsky, R (2020) Cornerstones of Attachment Research. OUP.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holmes, J (2014) John Bowlby and Attachment Theory (2nd edn). Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holmes, J, Slade, A (2017) Attachment in Therapeutic Practice. SAGE.Google Scholar
Holmes, J (2020) The Brain Has a Mind of its Own: Attachment, Neurobiology, and the New Science of Psychotherapy. Confer Books.Google Scholar
Mikulincer, M, Shaver, P (2016) Attachment in Adulthood: Structure, Dynamics, and Change (2nd edn). Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Slade, A (2023) Enhancing Attachment and Reflective Parenting in Clinical Practice: A Minding the Baby Approach. Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.