Treating Attachment Pathology

by Jon Mills

This book rectifies a much neglected area in the conceptualization and treatment of attachment disorders. The interface between attachment, psychic structure, and character pathology has been largely ignored in the clinical literature until recent years, and when discussed, it has been generally relegated to the domain of child psychopathology. Because human attachment is such a basic aspect to motivation and adjustment, attachment disruptions in childhood color psychic development and often leave deep and enduring deficits in personality and adaptive functioning. The author shows that patients with attachment deficiencies and associated characterological vulnerabilities have fundamental structural deficits in personality organization that lie at the heart of our current understanding of disorders of the self. Offering the first comprehensive paradigm on the psychoanalytic treatment of adult and adolescent attachment disorders, Jon Mills argues that attachment pathology is a disorder of the self based on developmental trauma that predisposes patients toward a future trajectory marked by structural deficits, character pathology, and interpersonal discord that fuel and sustain myriad forms of clinical symptomatology. This pivotal work constitutes a treatise on the governing psychic processes of attachment on self-organization, adaptation, and conflicted intersubjective dynamics in non-childhood populations, and on the intervening relational parameters in treating their emergent clinical pathologies. Through conceptually astute technical strategies grounded in sold clinical practice, the author offers one of the most extensive and original frameworks in the psychoanalytic treatment of attachment disorders.

388 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2005

About the author

Prof. Jon Mills, PsyD, PhD, ABPP is a Canadian philosopher, psychoanalyst, and retired clinical psychologist. He is Honorary Professor, Department of Psychosocial & Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Essex, UK; Faculty in the Postgraduate Programs in Psychoanalysis & Psychotherapy, Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology, Adelphi University, USA; Faculty & Supervising Analyst at the New School for Existential Psychoanalysis, USA; and is Emeritus Professor of Psychology & Psychoanalysis at Adler Graduate Professional School, Toronto, Canada where he taught for over 20 years. Recipient of numerous awards for his scholarship, he is the author and/or editor of over 30 books in philosophy, psychoanalysis, psychology, and cultural studies.

Dr. Mills is an internationally recognized scholar, teacher, and cultural critic, award winning author who maintains an active writing schedule, and lectures widely worldwide.

Reviews

[Jessica Pershick · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite books of all time.

Nonfiction, scientific presentation of psychoanalysis conceptualization of personality development through attachment theory and early experiences. Including clinical vignettes with personality disordered clients, expressions of counter-transference, and best practices.