Addictions From an Attachment Perspective: Do Broken Bonds and Early Trauma Lead to Addictive Behaviours? / Edition 1

by Richard Gill

Overview

This outstanding book is an important collection of papers from the 2013 John Bowlby Memorial Conference by accomplished clinicians from different modalities who share their experience of working with people with different kinds of addiction. The papers bring together an in-depth understanding that addictions are a response to, and hold the pain of, broken attachments and are best treated within healthy interpersonal relationships. For a long time the person with an addiction has been seen as the problem with society being able to live in denial of the causes. These papers open up innovative and effective ways of working with people troubled by addiction from an attachment-informed perspective.Contributors: Cara Crossan, Richard Gill, Lynn Greenwood, Bob Johnson, Liz Karter, Edward Khantzian, Arlene Vetere, Kate White, Jason Wright

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781782201076
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	11/19/2014
Series:	The Bowlby Centre Monograph Series
Pages:	156
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements vii

About the Editor and Contributors ix

Introduction Richard Gill xiii

Chapter 1 Attachment theory and The John Bowlby Memorial Lecture 2013: a short history Kate White 1

Chapter 2 Addiction: treatment and its context Jason Wright 11

Chapter 3 The Self-Medication Hypothesis and attachment theory: pathways for understanding and ameliorating addictive suffering: The twentieth John Bowlby Memorial Lecture Edward. J. Khantzian 33

Chapter 4 Alcohol misuse, attachment dilemmas, and triangles of interaction: a systemic approach to practice Arlene Vetere 57

Chapter 5 Taking the toys away: removing the need for self-harming behaviour Lynn Greenwood 69

Chapter 6 Using "intent" to remedy mal-attachment Bob Johnson 95

Chapter 7 Struggling with abstinence Richard Gill 103

Chapter 8 Technology, attachment, and sexual addiction Cara Crossan 111

Chapter 9 Gambling addiction: seeking certainty when relationship is the risk Liz Karter 119

Appendix I Reading list 125

Appendix II The Bowlby Centre 129

Index 133

Editorial Reviews

"This book comprises a set of chapters by highly experienced clinicians and researchers, who have employed and developed attachment theory in a variety of innovative and applicable ways. The book serves as an excellent resource and will stimulate others to take their ideas further. The excellent chapter by Arlene Vetere is an example of the scope and importance of this book. Arlene Vetere has delivered clinical interventions and training regarding problems of alcohol and substance dependency for over twenty years. In this paper, her depth of experience, sophisticated and creative clinical formulation, and sensitive ways of intervening shine through. She offers a highly effective form of intervention, which combines concepts from attachment theory, systemic therapy, and narrative theory. The combination of these results in an approach that is greater than the sum of the parts, not least in that it offers a compassionate approach that employs these perspectives in a reflective and non-judgemental manner. The value of the approach is illuminated through the poignant case examples that are employed to illustrate the approach. These also offer a guide and inspiration for clinicians and researchers wishing to pursue Arlene’s approach."

Rudi Dallos

"This outstanding book is an important collection of essays by an array of gifted clinicians addressing the exciting and crucial impact that attachment theory is having on the understanding of addictive disorders and its treatment. Edward J. Khantzian’s article is, in itself, worth the price of the book as he provides a lucid and comprehensive review of his paradigm shifting Self-Medication Hypothesis, which has evolved into an even more elegant explanation of addiction as an affect regulation disorder. Not only does Dr Khanztian offer a more satisfying and accurate description of the intrapsychic and interpersonal dynamics of addictions, he provides a much-needed replacement of the archaic and pejorative perspective of drive theory’s view of addiction as pleasure seeking with a more compassionate and accurate model reflecting the comprehensive understanding of attachment as a primary drive. He concludes his remarks by helping the reader understand how the absence of secure attachment is a risk factor for affect dysregulation in children and subsequently, addiction in adults."

Phillip J. Flores

"This outstanding book is an important collection of essays by an array of gifted clinicians addressing the exciting and crucial impact that attachment theory is having on the understanding of addictive disorders and its treatment. Edward J. Khantzian’s article is, in itself, worth the price of the book as he provides a lucid and comprehensive review of his paradigm shifting Self-Medication Hypothesis, which has evolved into an even more elegant explanation of addiction as an affect regulation disorder. Not only does Dr Khanztian offer a more satisfying and accurate description of the intrapsychic and interpersonal dynamics of addictions, he provides a much-needed replacement of the archaic and pejorative perspective of drive theory’s view of addiction as pleasure seeking with a more compassionate and accurate model reflecting the comprehensive understanding of attachment as a primary drive. He concludes his remarks by helping the reader understand how the absence of secure attachment is a risk factor for affect dysregulation in children and subsequently, addiction in adults."

"This book comprises a set of chapters by highly experienced clinicians and researchers, who have employed and developed attachment theory in a variety of innovative and applicable ways. The book serves as an excellent resource and will stimulate others to take their ideas further. The excellent chapter by Arlene Vetere is an example of the scope and importance of this book. Arlene Vetere has delivered clinical interventions and training regarding problems of alcohol and substance dependency for over twenty years. In this paper, her depth of experience, sophisticated and creative clinical formulation, and sensitive ways of intervening shine through. She offers a highly effective form of intervention, which combines concepts from attachment theory, systemic therapy, and narrative theory. The combination of these results in an approach that is greater than the sum of the parts, not least in that it offers a compassionate approach that employs these perspectives in a reflective and non-judgemental manner. The value of the approach is illuminated through the poignant case examples that are employed to illustrate the approach. These also offer a guide and inspiration for clinicians and researchers wishing to pursue Arlene’s approach."

From the Publisher