Links between attachment theory and systemic practice: some proposals

This paper considers some of the current thinking in relation to attachment theory and systemic theory in understanding the development of adult couple relationships in terms of their attachment to each other and of their adaptations as a family. There is an increasing interest in adults' attachments to their own parental (attachment) figures, how these have an impact on the attachment relationship they have with their own children, and to the idea that adult partners can become attachment figures for each other with the potential for development being lifelong. Discussion focuses on attachment issues within the family group and the relevance of these to systemic practice.     

Attachment theory and research: Resurrection of the psychodynamic approach to personality

Since the rise of the social-behaviorist approach to personality and its elaboration with cognitive concepts following “the cognitive revolution,” psychodynamic theories, usually identified with Sigmund Freud, have taken a beating. This makes it easy for mainstream personality-social psychologists to brush the psychodynamic approach aside. At the same time, researchers in both developmental and personality-social psychology have made great progress in testing and elaborating ideas presented by John Bowlby in his famous trilogy on attachment and loss. What outsiders to that perspective may not realize is that Bowlby was a psychoanalyst who saw himself as retracing Freud’s steps but with the advantage of new theoretical and empirical strategies. In this article, we conceptualize attachment theory as a contemporary psychodynamic approach, show how this theory has helped to bring psychodynamic psychology back to life, and review empirical evidence from our laboratories that supports many of the psychodynamic hypotheses advanced by Bowlby.     

Social interdependence: interrelationships among theory, research, and practice

Social interdependence theory is a classic example of the interaction among theory, research, and practice. The premise of the theory is that the way in which goals are structured determines how individuals interact, which in turn creates outcomes. Over 750 research studies have been conducted in the past 11 decades on the relative merits of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic efforts and the conditions under which each is appropriate. These studies have validated, modified, refined, and extended the theory. Social interdependence theory has been widely applied, especially in education. The applications have resulted in revisions of the theory and the generation of considerable new research.     

Class in psychodynamic theory,research and practice

Class is a generally neglected topic within the psychotherapeutic and counselling worlds, and has not benefitted from the psychoanalytic and psychodynamic thought arising from contemporary critiques concerning gender, sexuality, and race. The article presents an overview of my researches over many years in an attempt to formulate the different ways in which considerations of class may impinge on practices and theories in the therapeutic professions. I use a clinical vignette to identify class related issues that may arise within the consulting room, and relate these to wider aspects of the intersections of class with therapy and counselling.     

Narrative process modes as a bridging concept for the theory, research and clinical practice of systemic therapy

This article is concerned with the relationships which hold between the clinical practice and the theory of family therapy; and between these and academic research. These relationships are seen as tenuous and thin because, in the first place, there is a lack of rigorous theoretical underpinning; and second, the research methods employed do not fit in with current family therapy practice, and with the theory that underlies this practice. The role of the concept of narrative process modes is proposed as a bridging and mediating one. The external, internal and reflective narrative process modes are seen as relevant from the point of view of family therapy process research, and the clinical practice of marital and family therapy.     

Attachment narrative therapy: integrating ideas from narrative and attachment theory in systemic family therapy with eating disorders

This paper proposes that recent developments in attachment theory, especially the move to the study of representations, offers some helpful new directions for systemic family therapy. Some of the findings of a close association between early attachment experiences and the coherence of the narratives are reviewed. It is suggested that this offers a useful link for systemic approaches in showing how early interactions in families promote not only particular emotional attachment patterns, but also shape the content and style of the narratives that are formed. These implications are then explored in the context of work with anorexia nervosa. It is suggested that commonly observed patterns, such as avoidance of conflict and apparent difficulties in discussing relationships and feelings, is consistent with transgenerational experiences of insecure/avoidant attachments. Some implications for systemic therapy with families are outlined and an illustrative case study is offered.     

Interfaces: toward a new generation of systemic models in family research and practice

After reviewing Engel's bio-psycho-social proposal and Kandel's "principles for an integration between mind and brain," the author introduces a set of akin propositions that aim at integrating neurosciences, genetics, the mind, and the social world into a succinct set of systemic formulations focusing on interlevel interfaces, with profound implications for the training, practice, and research in the field of family processes and therapy.     

Attribution in sport psychology: seeking congruence between theory,research and practice

ObjectivesThis paper urges revision of the way attributions are conceptualised, investigated, and applied in sport psychology. There has been a recent decline in attribution research in sport psychology, despite the generally accepted relevance of attributions in applied settings. In seeking closer links between attribution theory, research, and practice, we argue that there is a mismatch between research and practice in sport psychology.MethodsRelevant literature is reviewed and theoretical arguments offered within seven sub-headings: attribution theory in practice; linking consistency, distinctiveness, and consensus information to attribution dimensions; controllability as the primary attribution dimension; the generalisability of controllability; assessing attributions; implications for practice; and the social context.Results and conclusionsResearch within sport psychology should focus on the central issue of how controllability attributions generalise across time, situations, and people. Measurement should reflect this approach to research within the field of attributions and, to this end, researchers might consider using a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods of inquiry. Practitioners should use consistency, distinctiveness, and consensus information to challenge clients' attributional thinking and help them attain adaptive perceptions of controllability. Practitioners should also help clients to be their own psychologist. Future research and practice should include a consideration of the social context in which attributions are shaped.     

Narrative in psychotherapy theory,practice, and research: A critical review

This paper offers a critical review of narrative approaches to therapy, in terms of theory, practice and research. It proposes that narrative approaches currently lack a theory that explains adequately how the reworking of narratives brings about changes and how a client's various narratives are integrated. Research approaches to the study of narrative in therapy are at an early stage. A review of current research into narrative approaches to therapy is presented, and suggestions are offered for further research.     

Comparing qualitative research methodologies for systemic research: the use of grounded theory, discourse analysis and narrative analysis

Many of the qualitative research methods developed in the social sciences are well suited to explore research questions pertinent for the systemic field, and make a good fit with systemic thinking. In this paper I briefly outline the value of qualitative research for systemic psychotherapies. I explore some parallel developments in the field of qualitative research and systemic therapy which can inform each other. Three qualitative methodologies, a grounded theory approach, discourse analysis and narrative analysis, particularly useful for the research of subjective experience and meaning, are briefly outlined. To compare and contrast these methodologies, I discuss their application to a pilot study concerning the experiences of living life in more than one language. I demonstrate how each research methodology can highlight different aspects of qualitative research material and address different research questions. The challenge of how these methodologies may be further developed for systemic research is posed.     

The postmodern counsellor: Some implications for practice,theory, research and professionalism

What is postmodernism? What are the implications of the death of God, science and the subject for counselling? Further questions include: To what extent does postmodernism, show that behavioural, humanistic, existential, and most psychoanalytic theories are delusional in that they would have the clients/patients believe that they are the core, the centre, the subject? What are the dangers of seeing ‘others’ practically, theoretically and when conducting research as either enhancing our narcissism and/or the counselling order? In terms of an ethical practice, can the postmodern counsellor stop counselling from reverting to a technique orientated mechanism of professional vested interests, and instead find a better way for us all to put the other first?     

Links among theory, research, and practice: cornerstones of clinical scientific progress

Discusses how explicit links among clinical theory, research, and practice are necessary if a clinical discipline is to survive in the managed care marketplace of today. Robust links among theory, research, and practice enable the elaboration of a systematic body of clinical knowledge that is practical in its deployment, effective in its methods, and compelling in its rationale. Moreover, theoretical advances are increasingly necessary, in that they allow scientists to categorize and prioritize the growing amount of empirically derived information, determine how pieces of multilevel data fit together, identify knowledge gaps, and set priorities for future studies. As shown by some of the articles in this special section, evolving theories of behavior have several characteristics in common; namely that they are developmental, transactional, contextual, adaptational, multilevel, and multidetermined. Concerns may be raised, however, as to whether current research methods are fully adequate to test these newer, more complex, multilevel theories or the clinical phenomena they seek to characterize. To address these difficulties, as well as to increase the pace of scientific advances that may result from propitious links among theory, research, and practice, I offer several recommendations to clinical psychology in general and to clinical child psychological research in particular.     

Bridging the enormous gaps of theory with therapy research and practice

Convey remarkable advances in therapy outcome research and exemplify how leading investigators connect interventions to conceptual views about therapy. These comments focus on the distinction between broad conceptual views and theory about therapeutic change processes. Although there are explanations of why a treatment focus seems reasonable, there is very little testable theory or tests of theory in therapy research. The role, importance, and paucity of theory in child and adolescent psychotherapy research is described, underscored, and lamented, respectively, in these comments. Recommendations are made to move toward the goal of this series, namely, to bridge the gap of theory and clinical practice but also the gap of theory and therapy research.     

The practice research network: Research into practice,practice into research

The purpose of the broader project on which this report is based was to utilize a Practice Research Network, an alternative to traditional clinical studies to 1) identify demographically one practice group, namely professional counselors in the United States, 2) describe their practice patterns, and 3) identify their client population and the efficacy of their clinical work through client outcomes based on actual client reports. This article describes the development of one such nation‐wide Practice Research Network (PRN) and provides some preliminary findings for each phase of the project. Use of the PRN model can help overcome the traditional “research to practice” gap and provide research results into community practice thus integrating outcomes measures into the daily practice of mental health professionals. During the early phases of this project, a software program was developed upon which the participating practitioners could identify the data elements within the parameters of the focus on their agreed‐upon research interests, enter data following client visits over time, and by comparing their own composite profiles and effectiveness with those of other participating practitioners who had clients presenting with similar diagnoses, could alter their own service delivery patterns, therapeutic interventions, or approaches while working with the clients and thereby improve the efficacy of their service. By participating, the practitioners benefited by access to downloadable and printable reports on profiles of 1) their specific clients, 2) their service delivery patterns, and 3) the outcomes or efficacy by their clients’ direct feedback. They were also able to compare these results with the composite data from other practitioners.