My book, A Short Introduction to Attachment and Attachment Disorder, has been selected for the list of recommended readings for Provisional Psychologists who are to sit the National Psychology Exam as a prerequisite for registration as a Psychologist in Australia!
Follow the link to see the list : Psychology-Board—Reading-List—National-Psychology-Examination-Recommended-Readings—July-2012
Child Psychologists
Dear Readers,
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Thanks . . . . Colby
I recently came across the following review of my book A Short Introduction to Attachment and Attachment Disorder. The review was written by Philippa Kelly, a Social Work Consultant who works with foster parents. It appeared in the Journal of Mental Health (2011, 20(5), p.504).
The reason I am posting this review to my blog, apart from it being positive and good for the ego(!), is that it encapsulates what was my intention when writing the book.
Having read A Short Introduction to Attachment Disorder from cover to cover on a number of occasions, I believe this book would be of great interest to any professional who works with children from foster carers, social workers to Clinical Nurse Specialists, but particularly those working with children and young people who have emotional or mental health difficulties or children who are being looked after. It gives a good insight into the difficulties faced when caring for or supporting children who have attachment disorders or difficulties. It is well organised and is surprisingly jargon free.
I found that Pearce has written an easy to read but comprehensive description of attachment disorders and the implications of attachment disorders for children and the person caring for them. There is a clear explanation as to how attachment disorders develop, the differing types of attachment disorders and the presentation of these. The book then proceeds to inform the reader of practical ways to parent and support children who have these difficulties. It highlights both in written and pictorial form the issues of children who have experience early life adversity. The ideas that Pearce presents with regard to parenting children with these difficulties are straight forward, ensuring the read believes that they have the skills to make a difference to the children.
The case study at the end of each chapter brings to life the theory and ideas that Pearce has presented, highlighting how they can be observed or used in practice. There is a clear summary following this which enables the reader to reflect on the main points.
The usefulness of this book, for any professional working with children and young people who have any kind of attachment difficult cannot be over stated. For those who have a limited knowledge, it is accessible, informative and practical, for those who have a greater knowledge, it highlights in jargon free language the importance of understanding attachment, but also gives the practical advice on how we can begin to affect change for children with attachment disorders.
I am frequently asked by other professionals about what I do and what to do when referred a child who has experienced family trauma. What follows is a brief description of my work with these children. It is written with professionals in mind and assumes a basic knowledge of Attachment Theory and psychological approaches to treatment.
Children who have experienced gross deficiencies in care during their early formative years (preschool) are increasingly spoken about as having suffered from complex developmental trauma. Gross deficiencies in care incorporate physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse of the child and/or a persistent failure or inability of the child’s main caregiver or caregivers to consistently offer physical and emotional comfort in times of distress, such that the child is frequently left in a state of prolonged and severe physical and emotional distress. The developmental aspect incorporates the impact complex trauma has on developmental processes and outcomes for the child, which is increasingly being tied to impacts on the developing brain. However, the very nature of the aetiology of complex developmental trauma allocates a central role to the child’s primary attachment relationships and their impact on attachment security.
Children who have experienced complex developmental trauma frequently exhibit insecurity. Many are diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD). Children diagnosed with RAD typically exhibit gross disturbances in social and emotional relatedness and behaviour. These disturbances are considered to stem from maladaptive beliefs about self, other and the world (attachment representations), hyperarousal (and associated arousal dysregulation), and a pervasive and enduring preoccupation with access to core needs provision (including the need to feel safe, accepted and to be physically nourished).
Psychological interventions for complex developmental trauma, and its common associate Reactive Attachment Disorder, are often grouped under the general heading Attachment Therapies. As the name suggests, Attachment Therapies typically seek to repair the traumatised child’s attachment relationships and/or promote attachment security. The provision of reparative attachment experiences in therapy has a central role. With references often being made to such terms as transference and counter-transference, Attachment Therapies are often placed in the psychoanalytic tradition.
My own approach to Attachment Therapy focuses on promoting adaptive beliefs about self, other and the world (secure attachment representations), lower and improved regulation of arousal, and reduced preoccupation with access to basic needs. Therapy is experiential, just as early attachment relationships are formed through experiences. Children referred to me are offered sustained, consistent and intense experiences of structure, direction, guidance, mastery, deep understanding of their inner world, emotional connectedness and access to needs provision. This is achieved through therapeutic activities (e.g. Theraplay) and a stream of interpretations of the child’s thoughts, feelings, perspectives and intentions (i.e. verbalising understanding – a.k.a. validation).
As to what psychotherapy school or tradition my approach to Attachment Therapy sits in, it is possible to argue one way or another. There is no doubt that I am managing transference and counter-transference to achieve desired therapeutic outcomes for traumatised, attachment disordered children on a daily basis. However, it is also my practice to explore and name the child’s maladaptive beliefs about self, other and the world and take the child on a journey whereby they experience themselves, others and the world in a different, more helpful way. In doing so, my intent is to reorganise and restructure attachment representations and expose the traumatised, attachment disordered child in a systematic and sustained manner to the very source of their trauma: the dependency relationship. Desired outcomes include cognitive change and lowered arousal through habituation to the trauma stimulus; although arousal management techniques are also an important component of intervention. Hence, my therapeutic approach sits easily in the cognitive-behavioural tradition.
In addition, successful outcomes for traumatised, attachment disordered children rest in no small way on the promotion of a supportive care environment outside of the therapy setting. Engagement with the child’s caregivers in the home and educational contexts is an important aspect of the intervention process. Successful caregiver psychoeducation rests on the therapists ability to achieve understanding and acceptance of required approaches to the care and management of the traumatised, attachment disordered child. Wholesale changes in care and management approach are rarely accepted and implemented in a consistent and sustained manner; if at all. Even if they were implemented, the potential effectiveness of wholesale changes are likely to be quickly dismissed as traumatised, attachment disordered children are highly reactive to changes in caregiving practices. More subtle changes to care and management practices are more likely to be accepted, by the child and his or her caregivers alike. My own practice is to identify those aspects of common caregiving that facilitate the child’s experience of their caregiver as being accessible, understanding and emotionally-connected; such as is the infant’s experience when he or she is forming their first (secure) attachment relationships. As caregivers can rightfully assert “I do that anyway” they feel validated for the positive contribution they are making to the remediation of the child’s trauma and attachment difficulties and, having been made aware of what caregiving practices help, might be expected to do them more often.
For the reader who requires additional information about Attachment Theory, Attachment Disorder, trauma-informed practice and my therapy approach , please refer to my book:
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This following story represents an allegory for the approach to promoting resilience in children as found in the prologue to:
Pearce, C. A Short Introduction to Promoting Resilience in Children. London: Jessica Kingsley, 2011
Once upon a time there were four children. On a warm and sunny day the parents of each child took them to an adventure playground for a play.
The first child had a wonderful time at the playground. He confidently swung on the swings, slid on the slippery-slides, toured the tunnels, and flew on the flying fox. Under the watchful gaze of his parents he tried everything and excitedly reported his feats of bravery and accomplishment to them. His parents accompanied him to each item of equipment and warmly acknowledged his efforts. They even tried some of the more difficult items to demonstrate what was possible and remained close by to catch their child if he should fall. Upon leaving the playground this child sought acknowledgement from his parents that he could come again another day.
The second child bounded from his parents’ car and eagerly entered the adventure playground, not noticing that his parents remained in the car. Observing many children at the giant slippery slide he excitedly approached it to give it a go. He was unconcerned that the other children at the slippery slide were much older than him and that the slippery slide was very high and very fast. He did not notice, nor did anyone tell him, that the slide was better suited for older children. He flew off the bottom of the slide and cannoned into the ground, hurting his arm. Shock and pain turned to tearful distress as he could not immediately find his parents for soothing of his hurts. When his parents belatedly arrived to attend to him he was difficult to soothe and angrily refused to try any other equipment. His anger and distress quickly escalated and he was carried, screaming, from the playground.
The third child approached the playground much more cautiously, preferring to remain close to his parents, holding hands. His parents guided him to the quietest corner of the playground, where the smallest and safest equipment could be found. They held his hand or carried him in their lap on the swings and the slide. When he gazed wistfully at the other children his age who were re-enacting tales of bravery and heroism in the fort, his parents encouraged him to remain with them in the sand-pit. His parents delighted in his company, and he in theirs, and he readily agreed that the fort looked dangerous and the other children played too rough.
The fourth child never made it to the adventure playground as his parents could not afford to buy fuel for their car. He spent the day alternately demanding to be taken to the playground and sulking about not being able to go.
Source: Pearce, C. A Short Introduction to Promoting Resilience in Children. London: Jessica Kingsley, 2011
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Triple-A Model of Therapeutic Care
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Once upon a time there were three mice.
The first mouse lived in a house that contained, along with furniture and other household goods and possessions, a lever and a hole in the wall from which food was delivered. Each time the mouse pressed the lever he would receive a tasty morsel of his favourite food. The mouse understood that, when he was hungry, all he had to do was press the lever and food would arrive via the hole. The mouse took great comfort in the predictability of his access to food and only pressed the lever when he was hungry.
The second mouse lived in a similar house, also containing a lever and a hole in the wall from which food was delivered. Unfortunately, the lever in his house was faulty and delivered food on an inconsistent basis when he pressed it, such that he might only receive food via the hole on the first, fifth, seventh, or even the eleventh time he pressed the lever. This mouse learnt that he could not always rely on the lever and that he had to press the lever many times, and even when he was not actually hungry, in order to ensure that he would have food. Even after his lever was fixed he found it difficult to stop pressing it frequently and displayed a habit of storing up food.
The third mouse also lived in a similar house, containing a lever and a hole in the wall from which food was to be delivered. However, the lever in his house did not work at all. He soon learnt that he could not rely on the lever and would have to develop other ways of gaining access to food. This belief persisted, even when he moved to a new home with a fully-functioning lever.
Source: Pearce, C. A Short Introduction to Attachment and Attachment Disorder. London: Jessica Kingsley, 2009
An updated version of this allegory – A Tale of Four Mice – can be found in the Second Edition of A Short Introduction to Attachment and Attachment Disorder.
This allegory has been very popular and meaningful for many readers. Here is an example:
From Carr, S. (2013). Attachment in Sport, Exercise and Wellness. Routledge: London and New York (pp 1-2)
Some months ago a graduate student came to my office visibly excited after reading the prologue section in Colby Pearce’s (2009) text A Short Introduction to Attachment and Attachment Disorder. The student felt that although he had been studying attachment theory for a number of years he was so intensely focused upon its numerous intricacies and nuances that he had failed to recognise the striking simplicity that underpins this complexity. With Pearce’s permission, I make no apologies for paraphrasing his excellent example below. I agree with my graduate student’s initial interpretation.
Pearce (2009) recites a story about three mice. The first mouse resided in a comfortable house that was furnished and supplied with modern conveniences. Inside the house was a button and a hole in the wall and the mouse was able to press the button to receive tasty food through the hole. The mechanism worked well and the mouse appreciated that when he was hungry he would be able to press the button and consistently receive his food. It was comforting to have this knowledge and the mouse liked the predictable nature of his button, only tending to press it when he really needed food.
In contrast, the second mouse (who lived in an identical house) had the misfortune of dealing with a faulty button mechanism. That is, pressing his button only resulted in food being delivered some of the time. There was no predictability to the button mechanism and on some occasions he would receive food immediately on pressing the button whereas on others he would be required to press it 10 or 20 times. At other times it seemed that no matter how often he pressed it nothing was ever going to happen. His distrust of the button led him to be preoccupied with pressing it, even when he was not actually hungry. He would press it many, many times in order to ensure he would have food when he did grow hungry. When the button was fixed he found it hard to trust that it was now in good working order and spent much time storing up food for a rainy day.
Finally, the third mouse lived in a house with a button that consistently failed to work. In short, he never received any food from his button. He quickly came to the understanding that access to food would require him to employ other means and had no belief in the utility of the button. Even when he moved home and found a house with an effectively functioning button his lack of faith in buttons persisted and he continued to find food the way he always had.
The above story highlights how attachment theory can be seen to be grounded in simple assumptions that retain remarkable logical sense even when talk of mice and food is substituted for young children, emotional care, and security. Pearce (2009) has cleverly recognised this in his prologue. However, although there are some simple logical principles at the core of attachment theory, the fact that Bowlby (1969/1982, 1973, 1980) required close to 1000 pages to articulate his ideas suggests that there are complexities, assumptions, and arguments that cannot be overlooked if one is to begin to develop a fuller understanding of Bowlby’s position. Furthermore, given that attachment theory has been intuitively appealing to researchers whose ideas are allied to contrasting paradigmatic approaches (e.g. Pearce’s example seems couched in behaviourist principles – but attachment theory also reflects ideas that resemble other schools of thought) and from various disciplines it is unsurprising that further methodological and conceptual intricacies have arisen as the ideas have been nurtured and developed according to the assumptions of differing schools of thought.
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In Part One of this series, I refer to the fact that the management of severe tantrums and meltdowns in children is an arousal management issue, rather than a behaviour management issue. In this second part of the series, I will provide some tips about how to lower your child’s arousal levels as strategy for reducing the likelihood and frequency of severe tantrums and meltdowns. I will also provide some tips about what to do to lower your child’s arousal in the midst of a severe tantrum or meltdown.
As I mentioned in Part One, severe tantrums and meltdowns occur when a child’s nervous system is highly activated; that is, highly aroused. The more highly aroused the child’s nervous system is, the less reasonable they become. There is a threshold, beyond which children are incapable of thinking and acting in a reasonable manner. As a result of genetic, historical (i.e. early exposure to stress) and contemporary (i.e. current sources of stress) factors, some children’s arousal is always higher than others, making them more prone to severe tantrum’s and meltdowns. In common language, they are highly strung. These are probably the most common children seen in a psychology practice. They would be less prone to severe tantrums and meltdown, as well as happier and better behaved children, if we could make them less highly strung; that is, if their arousal generally fluctuated in a lower range and further away from the threshold where a severe tantrum or meltdown occurs.
In my practice, and with my own children, I have found that one of the simplest and most effective methods for reducing children’s arousal levels generally is to play soothing classical music quietly in their bedrooms all night, every night. The rationale for this comes from research into the so-called Mozart Effect. This research attributes to music a powerful role in promoting a state of calm readiness, whereupon we are more likely to perform at our best and less likely to feel overwhelmed by the challenges of the day. In simpler terms, playing soothing classical music quietly in the child’s bedroom all night every night ensures that when they wake up they are not highly strung and, also, that it will take a lot more frustrations and other stressors than usual to unsettle them and precipitate a severe tantrum or meltdown. For more information about this strategy click here.
Some children have difficulty processing and managing inputs through one or more of their senses. These children are usually identified by behaviour reported during a parental interview or the parent’s responses to formal questionnaires. Sensory processing difficulties might be seen as being a bit like having poorly fitting shoes. We’re not always consciously aware of the shoe rubbing, but at the end of the day we have a blister. Sensory processing difficulties are an irritant to your child’s nervous system, ensuring that their nervous system is more highly aroused that it would otherwise be. In turn, children with sensory processing difficulties can be more prone to severe tantrums and meltdowns. I typically refer such children to the Occupational Therapist in my practice who specialises in providing parents and children with sensory activities they can readily do to reduce the level of irritation to their nervous system, thereby reducing their arousal levels generally and their proneness to severe tantrums and meltdowns.
Other general strategies for maintaining lower levels of arousal generally include maintaining consistent routines and expectations of your child’s behaviour from day to day, and being accessible and empathic towards your child; particularly when they are in distress. For more information on these and other strategies for managing day-to-day arousal levels, I would refer you to my various publications on this site and securestart.com.au, and also to my books:
A Short Introduction to Attachment and Attachment Disorder
A Short Introduction to Promoting Resilience in Children.
But what do I do when my child is having a severe tantrum or meltdown I hear you ask? Firstly, as far as humanly possible (it is difficult) try to stay calm (or, at least present a calm demeanour). If you are ranting and raving, this will only further increase the child’s arousal and exacerbate their meltdown. It is also poor modelling of emotional control. If you are unable to maintain a calm demeanour, move away from your child. This is not ideal but the ‘lesser of two evils’, so to speak. If you can maintain a calm demeanour, be present and accessible to the child without further stimulating their arousal. Sit quietly in the same room with them. Drape a heavy blanket across their shoulders as weight is soothing to many children. Put on their favourite DVD, as this is associated with happy feelings. Play soothing music. Offer them a bath or a shower. If you do not add to their arousal levels the episode should be over with in less than fifteen minutes. If your child’s severe tantrums and meltdowns persist for longer than this, or they are having them once a week or more, you should seek advice from your general medical practitioner or an appropriately qualified and experienced child development or mental health professional.
Finally, as I mentioned in Part One of this series, there is no known universally effective strategy for managing (that is, eliminating) severe tantrums and meltdowns. Nevertheless, it is my experience that if we better manage children’s arousal levels generally and during a severe tantrum or meltdown, we can, at least, reduce their frequency, intensity and duration.
(Dislaimer: While it is anticipated that this article will prove to be informative for those who care for children, it is not a substitute for a full assessment and face-to-face support and guidance from an appropriately trained and experienced child development and mental health clinician. If your child is exhibiting severe and recurrent tantrums and meltdowns you should seek further advice about treatment options from your family medical practitioner).
I wish you well in giving these strategies a go. I am happy to receive constructive feedback in the comments for this article or via direct contact with me.
To access a PDF eight simple strategies for responding to tantrums, visit the resources page.
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You can access more information about my therapeutic parenting programs by clicking the links below:
Triple-A Model of Therapeutic Care
The CARE Therapeutic Framework
Helping Children and Young People Realise their Potential
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In my practice one of the more common presenting problems is severe tantrums, or meltdowns, in children. Common reactions among adults who care for these children include frustration, embarrassment, desperation and helplessness. Typically, these otherwise competent parents have tried a range of strategies without finding a strategy or strategies that consistently work. They invariably pose one simple question: what do we do when our child is having a severe tantrum or meltdown? What they really want to know is, what works?
The first answer I provide is that there is no known universally effective strategy for managing severe tantrums and meltdowns. If there was, someone would have written about it by now and made a lot of money! The second answer I offer is that effective management of children’s severe tantrums and meltdowns begins with developing an understanding of what is actually going on in the nervous system of a child prior to, and in the midst of, a severe tantrum or meltdown.
The most common belief that exists in the community about severe tantrums and meltdowns is that they are a behaviour management problem. In fact, they are an arousal management problem. Understanding this is the key to effective management of meltdowns and severe tantrums.
By arousal, I mean the level of activity in the child’s nervous system. Arousal goes up and down during the day. Arousal generally is lowest when the child is asleep and highest when the child is in a state of high emotion. Arousal is regulated by the brain, though it is influenced by what the child is doing and what is happening in the child’s environment. In ordinary circumstances, arousal is thought to go up and down within a regular range, which varies from child to child. Each child’s range of arousal is affected by genetic factors (e.g. temperament), early exposure to stress, ongoing maintaining factors (i.e. stressors), and the interaction of these. The temperament infants are born with is involved, as so-called “easy babies” seemingly maintain lower levels of arousal, whereas so-called “slow-to-warm-up” and “difficult” babies maintain higher levels of arousal.
Early stressors include pregnancy and birth complications, early illness, neglect and maltreatment. Early stressors are thought to impact on the structure of the developing brain, particularly those structures that are responsible for the control, or regulation, of arousal[i]. Frequent exposure to stress and prolonged distress, particularly during the first year of life, is thought to result in significant development of the parts of the brain that are associated with high arousal and emotional distress. The result of this is that the central nervous system (i.e. the brain) becomes hard-wired to be highly reactive to sensory stimulation (i.e. sights, sounds, touch, taste, smell) and perceived threats, and vulnerable to maintaining higher levels of arousal. Maintaining factors include stressors associated with higher arousal, including bullying and harassment, learning difficulties and traumatic family circumstances. Maintaining factors also include strength factors that support lower arousal, such as the presence of loving and supportive relationships.
A conventional term for children whose arousal fluctuates in the higher range is that they are “highly strung”. Conversely, a conventional term for children whose arousal fluctuates in the lower range is that they are “laid back”. Highly strung children are on-the-go, intense, and make mountains out of molehills. Laid back children are comparatively relaxed, calm, unflappable and resilient. As is represented in the diagram below, it seems to take relatively more stimulation and adversity for laid back children to experience stress (C). In contrast, highly strung children are more prone to stress (A), and its associated negative consequences, than laid back children.
(Source: Pearce, C. A Short Introduction to Promoting Resilience in Children. London: Jessica Kingsley, 2011)
Severe tantrums and meltdowns occur when a child’s arousal level approaches and exceeds the so-called stress threshold referred to in the above diagram. Brain imaging studies show that when an individual is under stress, or when an individual is exposed to sensory stimulation associated with past traumatic events, there is significant activation of sub-cortical (i.e. inner) regions of the brain and reduced blood flow to areas of the frontal cortex[i]’[ii] (i.e. outer, frontal regions of the brain). The areas of frontal cortex of the brain that experience reduced blood flow are thought to be those that are responsible for logical, rational thinking, planning and responding, and speech. The sub-cortical regions of the brain are responsible for instinctive responses and those that are essential to the survival of the organism, such as emotion, respiration, arousal and the fight-flight-freeze response.
Many behaviours exhibited by children during a severe tantrum or meltdown are associated with a reduced capacity for logical thinking and partial or full activation of the fight-flight-freeze response. These include controlling, aggressive, destructive, hyperactive and unreasonable behaviour. These behaviours are only partly volitional or totally non-volitional, depending on the child’s level of distress. The way in which parents (and other caregivers; e.g. teachers and childcare workers) respond to these behaviours either escalates (disciplinary response) or de-escalates (calming response) these behaviours.
So, when a child is having a severe tantrum or meltdown they require interventions that lower their arousal levels. It is only when we do so that the child will begin to behave in a more reasonable manner. I will present strategies for intervening to lower arousal and maintain lower arousal levels more generally in Taming Tantrums; Managing Meltdowns – Part Two.
(Note: much of the material presented in this article can is sourced from my various publications, including my two books: A Short Introduction to Attachment and Attachment Disorder and A Short Introduction to Promoting Resilience in Children.)
(Dislaimer: While it is anticipated that this article will prove to be informative for those who care for children, it is not a substitute for a full assessment and face-to-face support and guidance from an appropriately trained and experienced child development and mental health clinician. If your child is exhibiting severe and recurrent tantrums and meltdowns you should seek further advice about treatment options from your family medical practitioner).
References
[i] Perry, B.D., Pollard, R.A., Blakley, T.L., Baker, W.L., & Vigilante, D. (1995). Childhood trauma, the neurobiology of adaptation, and “use-dependent” development of the brain: How “states” Become “traits”, Infant Mental Health Journal, 16(4), 271-289
[ii] Damasio, A.R., Grabowski, T.J., Bechara, A., et al. (2000). Subcortical and cortical brain activity during the feeling of self-generated emotions. Nature Neuroscience, 3, 1049-1056
[iii] Van Der Kolk, B. (2006). Clinical implications of neuroscience research in PTSD. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1-17
To access a PDF eight simple strategies for responding to tantrums, visit the resources page.
Please also subscribe to this blog to receive an email notification when other practical ideas and guidance is published.
You can access more information about my therapeutic parenting programs by clicking the links below:
Triple-A Model of Therapeutic Care
The CARE Therapeutic Framework
Helping Children and Young People Realise their Potential
Another place to connect with my work is to follow one or more of my pages on Facebook:
To Connect with me on LinkedIn or Twitter click below:
I have become aware of some new reviews of my books in recent days and this has spurred me on to share some musings regarding book reviews.
Firstly, while I accept that not everyone will like my books, I am human and do experience some discomfort when reading negative comments or a negative review. Not that I consider my books to be above criticism. Both are “short introductions” to broad and complex subject matters; particularly my book concerning attachment and attachment disorders. Both were written in such a way as to be accessible to the broadest audience possible. It follows that both books can be criticised for what is not covered and for simplicity of explanations of the subject material.
However, I doubt that there are any books that are entirely without merit that make it to publication stage with known publishing houses. In a markeplace it makes no sense for the publishing house to distribute rubbish, and published works are (in my experience, at least) subject to a number of layers of editorial review. If one accepts this then one has to wonder at the motivations and insight of those who write purely negative evaluations or reviews of published works.
Entirely positive reviews are very welcome and good for vanity! However, the most useful reviews are those that make realistic appraisals of a book’s positive and negative aspects, before settling on a final summation of the book. I know this as the “dialectic” approach to formulating an argument that was taught to me in high school. I thought that this was the “gold standard” approach to conducting evaluations and reviews but have since learnt that it is not always used by reviewers.
However, I was recently extremely pleased to read a review of my book on resilience by Asfia Qaadir in Metapsychology Online Reviews. I would refer the reader to this review by following the link. This is a good example of the dialectic approach to a review.
For other reviews I would direct the reader to the “book reviews” page of this blog. I will endeavour to add all reviews I am aware of over the next little while.
Pearce, C. (2016). A Short Introduction to Attachment and Attachment Disorder (Second Edition). London: Jessica Kingsley
Attachment and Resilience 