Session Information
Attachment and Bonding
Attachment draws upon and integrates all the development of the first year, the infant’s organization of emotion, cognition and social behavior, to serve later development. The infant’s central challenge is to engage the world and the novelty of the world of objects and people while at the same time maintaining a degree of emotional regulation. Infants will be aroused in the face of novelty, but novelty must be engaged if the infant’s world is to expand. In this endeavor, the infant has to use his/her own capacity for regulation and at the same time draw on external resources to regulate emotion. Primary attachment relationships are critical in this regard. When the relationship between the baby and the caregiver is working, the infant can balance exploration with proximity and interaction with the caregiver.