Attachment-based therapy (children)
Attachment-based therapy applies to interventions or approaches based on attachment theory, originated by John Bowlby. These range from individual therapeutic approaches to public health programs to interventions specifically designed for foster carers. Although attachment theory has become a major scientific theory of socioemotional development with one of the broadest, deepest research lines in modern psychology, attachment theory has, until recently, been less clinically applied than theories with far less empirical support. This may be partly due to lack of attention paid to clinical application by Bowlby himself and partly due to broader meanings of the word 'attachment' used amongst practitioners. It may also be partly due to the mistaken association of attachment theory with the pseudo-scientific interventions misleadingly known as attachment therapy. The approaches set out below are examples of recent clinical applications of attachment theory by mainstream attachment theorists and clinicians and are aimed at infants or children who have developed or are at risk of developing less desirable, insecure attachment styles or an attachment disorder.
Dependency need
Dependency needs can sometimes be associated with Attachment Theory. Attachment can be defined as a "deep and enduring emotional bond that connects one person to another across time and space." (Ainsworth, 1973; Bowlby, 1969) Attachment is thought to first occur between an infant and his or her primary caregiver. (Hetherington & Parke, 1999) Harry Harlow and his research in developmental psychology showed that attachment between infant and caregiver is vitally important to the psychological development of the infant and requires physical contact with a warm and responsive mother. (Larsen & Buss, 2008) These early experiences and reactions of the infants to the primary caregivers become working models for later adult relationships. (Larsen & Buss, 2008) Therefore, conclusions can be visibly drawn linking attachment and dependency need; vital, infantile needs for mothering, love, affection, shelter, protection, security, food, and warmth (dependency need) can stem from the type of interaction between that of an infant and his or her primary caregiver. Three different types of attachment styles, securely attached, avoidantly attached, and ambivalent attached, can result from varying levels and styles of care a primary caregiver provides an infant.