5. Language and Attachment

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this lecture, we highlight elements of language, including the secure base script, and their roles in attachment, focusing in particular on: (i) philosophy, demonstrating how Grice’s principles of effective communication interlink with attachment theory; (ii) psychotherapy and how the attachment type of both a patient and therapist can impact conversation; (iii) language, described as a series of speech acts, whereby it can call others to action, in addition to simply conveying information.

Course

In this course, Professor Jeremy Holmes explores attachment theory. In the first lecture, we review its history. In the second lecture, we think about how attachment theory and modern evolutionary theory are linked, highlighting key figures in its development, such as Viktor Frankl and Phillip Shaver. In the third lecture, we think about how attachment has been measured, including Mary Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation’ and Mary Main’s ‘Adult Attachment Interview’. Next, we focus on the role of caregiver sensitivity in attachment, reviewing the Grossman model of parental attachment roles. In the fifth lecture, we introduce language, considering the role it plays in attachment through the lens of Grice’s principles of effective communication. In the sixth and final lecture, we explore attachment theory across different cultures, addressing the field’s historical focus on WEIRD participants, and Margaret Mead’s challenge to John Bowlby’s founding theories.

Lecturer

Jeremy Holmes is a visiting professor of psychology at the University of Exeter. He is a consultant psychiatrist and a psychoanalytic psychotherapist who specialises in attachment theory. Professor Holmes has authored a number of books on attachment theory, which explore its history, as well as bringing it together with modern psychoanalytical theory. Some of Professor Holmes’ recent publications include ‘Friston’s free energy principle: new life for psychoanalysis?’ (2021) and ‘Therapeutic mechanisms in attachment-informed psychotherapy in adults’ (2021).