Loss and disorganization from an attachment perspective.
In this article, it is hypothesized that disorganizing, disorienting, and unresolved states of mind about loss experiences, as classified by the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) coding system, may offer insight into the bereaved mind and may guide clinical treatment approaches. This article discusses pre-loss attachment organizations and the disorganizing/disorienting markers of unresolved loss found in the AAI. Although sometimes subtle in nature, the unresolved, disorganized, and disorienting indices--defined as lapses in monitoring of reason, discourse and behavior--provide concrete markers for assessing the degree of resolution for loss experiences. An attachment-based grief treatment model can add to existing models implemented in prolonged grief disorder treatment.
Department of Kinesiology, College of Health and Human Development, California State University, Northridge, California 91330, USA. Paula.thomson@csun.edu
Paula
P
Thomson
D000328:Adult; D006117:Grief; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological / Q000379:methods*; D009769:Object Attachment