Description

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A method for identifying the psychological and interpersonal self-protective attachment strategies of adults.

This book focuses upon new methods of analysis for adult attachment texts. The authors’ introduce a highly nuanced model—the Dynamic-Maturational Model (DMM)—providing clinicians with a finely-tuned tool for helping patients examine past relationships, in addition to gauging the potential effectiveness of various treatment options. The authors offer a fascinating explanation of the neurobiological underpinnings of DMM, grounded in findings from the cognitive neurosciences about information processing. In this volume, readers have an eminently practical, theoretically-grounded work that is sure to transform many types of therapy.

About the Author

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Patricia McKinsey Crittenden, PhD, is a developmental psychologist. In 2004, she received a career achievement award for "Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Child and Family Development" from the European Family Therapy Association in Berlin. She lives in Miami, Florida.

Andrea Landini, MD, is a developmental psychiatrist. He lives in Italy.

Praise For…

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This is a groundbreaking piece of work, containing a life-span view of adaptation that is both intuitively succinct and simple in structure, yet also completely nuanced in execution. Researchers and clinicians alike will undoubtedly benefit from the wealth of information shared here, and it is a must-have for anyone with an interest in attachment theory, representing a major evolutionary step forward in the field.
— PsychCentral

This complex, challenging, and compassionate book is as groundbreaking as the Adult Attachment Interview itself was twenty-five years ago. Building on the work of Bowlby, Ainsworth, and Main and applying recent discoveries in cognitive and neuroscience, Crittenden and Landini detail a new path for attachment theory. The Dynamic Maturational Model, applied to the AAI, promises rich rewards to clinicians, basic and applied developmental researchers, and professionals in a variety of fields from child welfare to criminology.
— Susan Spieker, PhD, Professor and Director of Family and Child Nursing, Center on Infant Mental Health & Development, University of Washington

The book is clear, accessible, and written with compassion. It represents a culmination of thinking and research in the best traditions of both the scholar practitioner and the scientist research practitioner. If I had my way, this book would form the heart of all psychotherapeutic and applied clinical practitioner trainings!
— Professor Arlene Vetere, AcSS, FBPsS, PsychD, Deputy Director in Clinical Psychology, University of Surrey

This book brings together a wealth of research, clinical and training experience, offering more than just a new approach to the analysis of adult attachment texts. It will be of great value for researchers, clinicians, and trainers.
— Professor Rudi Dallos, Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Plymouth