Trust Psychotherapist discusses attachment on podcast

Recently our Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist Dr Graham Music was featured on the podcast Conversations with Annalisa Barbieri to discuss the topic of attachment. Speaking to Guardian Weekend Columnist Barbieri, Music defined attachment and explained its theoretical origins.

Music who has worked at our trust for the past 25 years, described attachment as a “term which comes from a body of theory and research, which was initially developed [in the 1950s] by psychoanalyst Dr John Bowlby at the Tavistock Clinic.” This theory was developed as a way to make sense of the different ways we all relate to others, from childhood to adulthood, in a way that makes us feel safe.

He described how Bowlby was “revolutionary in his attention to how children related to their parents and the effect that could have on how they interacted in the world, for example, in schools, nurseries or in later life.”

Bowlby discovered that some children had a closer bond to their parents, at the time of his research this was typically the mother. Music stated that “in the beginning, every child has an attachment relationship or has predominant ways of relating to people in terms of attachment.”

What set Bowlby apart from his contemporaries, according to Music, was that “he was one of the first people who worked psychoanalytically and therapeutically”.

Music explained how Bowlby was influenced by ethology, a science which looks at animal behaviour under natural conditions, and would often make comparisons between animal-animal and human-human interactions.”

You can listen to his podcast interview on Conversations with Annalisa Barbieri on Apple Podcast, Spotify or Acast.