Couples Counselling Calgary

Attachment theory is a psychological and evolutionary framework, concerning the relationships between humans, particularly the importance of early bonds between infants and their primary caregivers. Developed by psychiatrist and psychoanalyst John Bowlby (1907–90), the theory posits that infants need to form a close relationship with at least one primary caregiver to ensure their survival, and to develop healthy social and emotional functioning.^[1][2]

Pivotal aspects of attachment theory include the observation that infants seek proximity to attachment figures, especially during stressful situations.^[2][3] Secure attachments are formed when caregivers are sensitive and responsive in social interactions, and consistently present, particularly between the ages of six months and two years. As children grow, they use these attachment figures as a secure base from which to explore the world and return to for comfort. The interactions with caregivers form patterns of attachment, which in turn create internal working models that influence future relationships.^[4] Separation anxiety or grief following the loss of an attachment figure is considered to be a normal and adaptive response for an attached infant.^[5]

Research by developmental psychologist Mary Ainsworth in the 1960s and 70s expanded on Bowlby's work, introducing the concept of the "secure base", impact of maternal responsiveness and sensitivity to infant distress, and identified attachment patterns in infants: secure, avoidant, anxious, and disorganized attachment.^[6][7] In the 1980s, attachment theory was extended to adult relationships and attachment in adults, making it applicable beyond early childhood.^[8] Bowlby's theory integrated concepts from evolutionary biology, object relations theory, control systems theory, ethology, and cognitive psychology, and was fully articulated in his trilogy, Attachment and Loss (1969–82).^[9]

While initially criticized by academic psychologists and psychoanalysts,^[10] attachment theory has become a dominant approach to understanding early social development and has generated extensive research.^[11] Despite some criticisms related to temperament, social complexity, and the limitations of discrete attachment patterns, the theory's core concepts have been widely accepted and have influenced therapeutic practices and social and childcare policies.^[10][12]

Couples therapy (also known as couples' counseling, marriage counseling, or marriage therapy) is a form of psychotherapy that seeks to improve romantic relationships and resolve interpersonal conflicts.^[1]

Marriage counseling began in Germany in the 1920s as part of the eugenics movement.^[2][3] The first institutes for marriage counselling in the United States started in the 1930s, partly in response to Germany's medically directed, racial purification marriage counselling centers. It was promoted by prominent American eugenicists such as Paul Popenoe, who directed the American Institute of Family Relations until 1976,^[4] Robert Latou Dickinson, and by birth control advocates such as Abraham and Hannah Stone who wrote A Marriage Manual in 1935 and were involved with Planned Parenthood,^[2] as well as Lena Levine and Margaret Sanger.^[5]

It wasn't until the 1950s that therapists began treating psychological problems within the context of the family.^[6] Relationship counseling as a distinct, professional service is thus a recent phenomenon. Until the late 20th century, relationship counseling was informally provided by close friends, family members, or local religious leaders. Psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors and social workers historically dealt primarily with individual psychological problems within a medical and psychoanalytic framework.^[6] In many cultures, the institution of the family or group elders fulfill the role of relationship counseling; marriage mentoring mirrors these cultures.

With increasing modernization or westernization and the continuous shift towards isolated nuclear families, the trend is towards trained and accredited relationship counselors or couple therapists. Sometimes volunteers are trained by either the government or social service institutions to help those who need family or marital counseling. Many communities and government departments have their own teams of trained voluntary and professional relationship counselors. Similar services are operated by many universities and colleges, sometimes staffed by volunteers from among the student peer group. Some large companies maintain full-time professional counseling staff to facilitate smoother interactions between corporate employees and to minimize the negative effects that personal difficulties might have on work performance.

There is an increasing trend toward professional certification and government registration of these services, in part due to duty of care issues and the consequences of the counsellor or therapist's services being provided in a fiduciary relationship.^[7]