Attachment and affects in the analytical dialogue

The constructs of infant research and of attachment theory relating to attachment models and to the role played in their formation by parental responsiveness towards infant emotions are examined in the light of the extent to which they can be used at a psychoanalytic level. From this perspective significant features of analytic work are the regulation and mentalization of affects and their sharing, which allow the patient to transform his relational models. Thus the responsiveness and emotional availability studied in infant-parent interaction become important ingredients of the analytic dialogue, the basis of and background to the transference and countertransference. The analysis of a therapy with a young woman with a history of abuse shows the importance of these features in helping her achieve a mutually reliable and «non-abusive» Self/Other relational model.