Imagine for a moment being little…smaller than you can consciously remember being. Imagine you are very new to life…say about three months old... You’ve been asleep and you are just waking up, lying on a mattress in a crib… You open your eyes and see your short, little arms and legs, new little fingers and toes that still seem to have a mind of their own. You have a big, heavy head and a short neck, a big, round tummy that is feeling very empty. As you come awake, you feel that wet thing around your middle that is beginning to feel heavy and cold. Agitated, you begin to wiggle, move your arms, kick you feet, and you make a few soft sounds. Your eyes feel itchy, and you are getting this feeling in your tummy that you don’t like. You begin to rub your eyes and make a few more sounds. To your surprise you hear a loud cry coming out of your mouth and your face is wet and your eyes begin to feel worse. Now you are crying and kicking and breathing hard. …but no one comes. You look to see, …but no one comes. And you are crying harder and your middle is hurting now with the air you’ve swallowed and you are hot and wet and screaming. Still no one comes.
And the room is still…and there’s nothing but the sheet and the slats of your crib. You are scared and your stomach hurts and you are alone. Finally, you hear footsteps. A cold nipple is stuck in you mouth and you see the blurred back of someone leaving and you are sucking and turning to see who is walking away…and the bottle falls over. And your mouth is empty and your eyes are hot and wet, your stomach still hurts. You are screaming for someone to help. You hear footsteps and see the arms sweep down and the hand you hope is reaching for you sticks the nipple in again, but hard…so it hurts and you choke. The footsteps go away and you cry out… Your mouth loses the nipple and your arms are beating and your feet kick the mattress. You are hungry and angry and scared. You are screaming to any empty room… Your need for food and attention followed by this response or a variation of it happens over and over again, several times a day, at least thirty times in the course of a week Sometimes the wet thing around your middle comes off. Sometimes you are picked up. But the faces are not happy when they see you and the voices are often loud and angry. You spend a lot of time here alone, playing with your hands and the sheet, kicking your legs, feeling your body, and memorizing the pattern of the crib bars, the blinds and the wallpaper…
Enduring form of a bond with a "special" person who provides sensory nourishment Loss or threat of loss of the special person triggers significant negative reaction Security and safety = fundamental aspects of this relationship (The National Institute for Trauma and Loss, 2007)
Emotional glue enabling a child to connect with his caretaker The ”Loop” = Reciprocity The ability to develop significant emotional connections which cultivates feelings of safety, security, comfort, and pleasure Fosters resilience in babies and children (Longres , 2000)
Attachment with a caretaker has been found to be essential to his physiological and psychological well - being Increases protective factors such as coping skills, hardiness, positive emotions and resourcefulness (The National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children, 2007) Attachment = Bonding
The Brain is designed to promote relationships - It is ‘hardwired’ for interpersonal relating Orbital Prefrontal Cortex (area behind eye) contains specialized functions related to attachment … regulates emotions, empathy and facial recognition …attachment experience directly influences the maturation of the right brain (Diamond and Hopson, 1999) Orbital Prefrontal Cortex (area behind eye) is not fully developed at birth … both biology and experience will influence its growth Systems in the brain that mediate pleasure are closely connected to the systems that mediate emotional relationships (Perry, 2001)
Attachment Behavior System (unmet need) becomes activated, Baby seeks a “sufficiently responsive and available attachment figure …only then is the Attachment Behavior System deactivated” NOTE: 80% probability ty th that t th the e atta ttachment s t sta tatus tus o of a per erspective e paren ent w t will pred edict th t the e atta ttachment s t sta tatus tus o of th thei eir child to to th that t paren ent. t.
“The Strange Situation” SECURE ATTACHMENT = Babies became distressed but soothed easily when reunited with caretaker ANXIOUS AVOIDANT Appeared content during caretaker absence Did not seek caretaker out or appear particularly soothed on return.. baby actively turned away from caretaker when reunited. **Physiological testing later revealed high levels of anxiety during separation but had learned to suppress these emotions
ANXIOUS AMBIVALENT Experienced extreme anxiety and sought to stay near attachment figure Experienced various levels of anxiety as caretaker drew near them. Resisted physical contact with caretaker when reunited . INSECURE:DISORGANIZED/ DISORIENTED ATTACHMENT Experienced confusion and had a similar reaction as ANXIOUS AMBIVILENT who simultaneously approached and avoided reuniting with caretakers. Many of these infants exhibited an inability to cope with any stressors or changes
PREMATURE BIRTHS MEDICALLY FRAGILE INFANTS UNEXPECTED IMPAIRMENTS OR PERCEIVED DEFICIENCY, MENTAL OR PHYSICAL ANOMALY IN ONE’S CHILD SEPARATION FROM CARETAKER AFTER BIRTH FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME ENVIRONMENT ~ A CHILD FEELS DISTRESS DUE TO A PERCEIVED THREAT OF HARM – LACK OF FEELING SAFE, CHAOTIC HOME ENVIRONMENT
HOSPITALIZATIONS DURING INFANCY OR CHILDHOOD CAREGIVER BEHAVIORS: IGNORING, REJECTING, TEASING OR RESPONDING WITH ANGER BY CARETAKER TOWARD A CRYING INFANT OR CHILD ~ A BABY CRIES AND NO ONE REPONDS~ “GOODNESS OF FIT” VS. POOR FIT 10% = Difficult Children – place greater demands, leads to feelings of inadequacy for caretaker 40 % = Easy Children 50% = Mixture of two types (Sadock & Sadock, 2003)
POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION CAREGIVERS WITH A HISTORY OF TRAUMA CARETAKER WHO IS EMOTIONALLY UNAVAILABLE (UNDERLYING STRESSORS) CAREGIVERS WHO ARE EXPERIENCING MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES
TRAUMA INDUCING EXPERIENCES FOR MOM DURING HER PREGNANCY BIOCHEMICAL STRESS CAUSED FROM SUBSTANCE ABUSE DURING PREGNANCY (Kuban, 2007) LOSS, ABUSE, PHYSICALLY NEGLECTED, EMOTIONALLY NEGLECTED, KIDS IN FOSTER CARE OR RELATIVE PLACEMENTS, OR ADOPTED CHILDREN UNWANTED / UNPLANNED PREGNANCY
DIFFICULTY MAKING AND MAINTAINING EYE CONTACT AVERSION TO TOUCH AND PHYSICAL AFFECTION INABILITY TO RESPOND TO AFFECTION EXCESSIVE SEPARATION FEARS WITHDRAWN, AVOIDANT BEHAVIOR LACK OF SELF - CONTROL, SELF ESTEEM GENERAL FEARFULNESS, FUSSINESS, NEEDY AND CLINGY BEHAVIOR
RARELY SMILES DOES NOT REACH OUT TO BE PICKED UP REJECTS EFFORTS TO CALM, SOOTHE AND CONNECT DOES NOT CARE WHEN YOU LEAVE HIM ALONE CRIES INCONSOLABLY DOES NOT COO OR MAKE SOUNDS DOES NOT FOLLOW YOU WITH HIS EYES
INABILITY TO TRUST NEED TO BE IN CONTROL ANGER AGGRESSION FEELINGS OF ABANDONMENT POWERLESSNESS CHIL HILDREN L LEA EARN QUIC ICKLY WHEN HEN T THEY HEY CANNOT NNOT OR SHOULD N NOT DEP EPEN END O ON OTHER HERS
SPEECH AND LANGUAGE PROBLEMS DIFFICULTY LEARNING APATHY LACK OF EMPATHY AND COMPASSON INCESSANT CHATTER AND QUESTIONS SUSCEPTIBLILITY TO CHRONIC ILLNESS (The National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children,2007)
FACT ~RESPONDING AND ATTENDING TO YOUR BABY WHEN HE CRIES DOES NOT SPOIL THEM ! SOOTHING CHILDREN WHEN THEY CRY TEACHES THEM THAT THEY HAVE THE POWER TO GET THEIR NEEDS MET AND THAT THEY CAN DEPEND ON THEIR CAREGIVERS TO FEEL SECURE, SAFE AND LOVED IN THEIR ENVIRONMENT FACT ~ BABIES THRIVE ON TOUCH, ONE -ON-ONE INTERACTION, AND AN ABUNDANCE OF EYE CONTACT FACT ~ A BABY’S SOCIAL - EMOTIONAL LIFE BEGINS WITH THE EARLIEST CONVERSATIONS FROM THE EARLIEST MOMENTS OF LIFE BETWEEN THE CAREGIVER AND THE CHILD (EDGELAND & ERICKSON, 1999; GUNNAR & BARR, 1998; PERRY, 2001; Waters, 2004)
FACT ~ RESEARCH AND CLINICAL EXPERIENCE INDICATE THAT ATTCHAMENT CAPACITY HAS GREATER POTENTIAL TO DEVELOP, MEND OR BE ENHANCED IF IDENTIFIED EARLY AND EARLY INTERVENTION TAKES PLACE FACT ~ A BABY IS SPEAKING TO ITS CARETAKER ALL T THE HE TIME ME ALTHOUGH HE MAY NOT YET HAVE WORDS FACT ~ HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IS SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTED BY BIOLOGY AND EXPERIENCE FACT ~ “HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS AND THE EFFECTS OF RELATIONSHIPS ON RELATIONSHIPS ARE THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT” (Fenichel, 2001, P. 11)
FACT ~ A BABY’S CAPABILITY TO CONNECT WITH THE WORLD AND WITH HIS CARETAKERS HAS A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPEECH (Goldstein, Cornel University Study) FACT ~ BABIES THAT RECEIVE ATTENTION AND SENSORY NURISHMENT DEVELOP INTO INDEPENDENT, RESOURCEFUL LESS DEMANDING TODDLERS (Kuban, 2007) FACT ~ “THE COURSE OF A CHILD’S DEVELOPMENT CAN BE ALTERED IN EARLY CHILDHOOD BY EFFECTIVE INTERVENTIONS ” (FENICHEL. 2001 )
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