Showing papers on "Mentalization published in 1999"
TL;DR: It is suggested that the concept of parental mind-mindedness (Meins, 1997) may help to explain the links between parents' mental representations of attachment experiences and infant-parent attachment security.
Abstract: Empirical studies and meta-analytical reviews have shown security of attachment to be predicted by: (1) caregivers' current representations of their own childhood attachment experiences; and (2) caregivers' sensitive responsivity to their infants' cues during the first year of life. However, despite the wealth of data on these topics, the reasons for these connections remain poorly understood. The aim of this paper is to present a new theoretical approach that may enable us to identify the mechanisms involved in the evolution and transmission of attachment security. Specifically, it is suggested that the concept of parental mind-mindedness (Meins, 1997) may help to explain the links between parents' mental representations of attachment experiences and infant-parent attachment security. This approach may also contribute to our understanding of certain consequences of attachment relationships, such as recent evidence for security-related differences in children's mentalizing abilities.
186 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an attachment-theory based model of transgenerational trauma inspired by the successful psychoanalytic treatment of a severely disturbed adolescent with obsessive-compulsive disorder who was the first child of the first daughter of a holocaust survivor was proposed.
Abstract: This paper outlines an attachment-theory based model of transgenerational trauma inspired by the successful psychoanalytic treatment of a severely disturbed adolescent with obsessive-compulsive disorder who was the first child of the first daughter of a holocaust survivor. It is proposed that the transmission of specific traumatic ideas across generations may be mediated by a vulnerability to dissociative states established in the infant by frightened or frightening caregiving, which, in its turn, is trauma-related. Disorganized attachment behaviour in infancy may indicate an absence of self-organization, or a dissociative core self. This leaves the child susceptible to the internalization of sets of trauma-related ideation from the attachment figure, which remain unintegrated in the self-structure and cannot be reflected on or thought about. The disturbing effect of these ideas may be relatively easily addressed by a psychotherapeutic treatment approach that emphasizes the importance of mentalization and the role of playful engagement with feelings and beliefs rather than a classical insight-oriented, interpretive approach.