Attachment Techniques In Mary Ainsworth´s The Strange Situation

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Mary Ainsworth, an American psychologist, developed a procedure called the Strange Situation, where it provides an environment for an infant in that motivates them to explore and encourage them to seek security (“Strange Situation,” 2001). In this experiment, an observer, usually a therapist or researcher will take a mother and her child to an unfamiliar room with toys. A series of separations and reunions with the mother and child are involved between the mother and the infant. The separation occurring in an unfamiliar setting and stranger would show the attachment pattern observed. Ainsworth revealed that there are three major types of attachment styles: secure, avoidant, and anxious/resistant (or also known as anxious/ambivalent). Securely…show more content…
For as long as he could remember, James always felt anger around his parents. He called it the Fury. Whenever his parents were around him, talked to him on the phone, or simply hearing their voices, the Fury builds up and gets worse. This Fury has caused James to become independent of his parents. He could not control the Fury, therefore developed emotions of rage and aggravation towards them for most of his life. According to Cherry (2015), individuals with an avoidant attachment are unwilling or unable to share feelings, thoughts, and emotions with others. At the clinic, James had a roommate named Miles. One day, Miles had a breakdown and all James did was leave him alone, rather than try to help him and listen to his problems. James also had a unit counselor named Ken. Ken tries to help James, visiting him frequently and striving to connect James with the Twelve Step program, but James refuses to share anything with him besides vulgar language and…show more content…
Dr. Baker, a doctor at the clinic, gave James an assessment, stating that if he were to ever use drugs again, he would die. Hearing his death sentence, James takes the time to reflect on his life, and open himself to others. Securely attached individuals develop relationships with others in which there are high levels of trust, interdependence, and commitment (Simpson, 1990, p. 1972). James builds bonds with those around him. He falls in love with a girl named Lilly, who he trusts to share his intimate secrets with. One of James’s closest friends is Leonard, who saves James from running away from the clinic, and teaches him life lessons about holding on, honesty, and faithfulness. Leonard also adopts James in the end as his “son,” becoming a father-like figure to him. According to Sherry (2015), securely attached adults enjoy intimate relationships, seek out social support, and are capable of sharing their emotions with others. James has learned to open up to others. Towards the end of the story, James has to have a meeting with a priest in order to finish his program at the clinic. He agrees to do so, and is willing to share his whole story with the priest, as well as the one haunting memory that no one else except James himself knows. Through the social interaction of his peers at the clinic, James was able to look forward and change his attachment style. He went from being
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