Making and Breaking of Affectional Bonds

Bowlby develops an integration of learning theory with the developmental theories of Piaget and Freud.

Attachment is a subject I'm very much interested in. I already ordered two parts of Bowlby's trilogy 'Attachment and Loss', but this title, 'The making and breaking of affectional bonds', was a very captive introduction to his theory. Like many books, I read it with a pencil close by in order to be able to highlight what struck me as important and useful for future situations (writing a story, making a powerpoint). Well... I used the pencil a lot! The way Bowlby explains how bonding processes works and the fact that most of this theory still has the value it had when it was written with today's authors building upon it, is very impressive. I look forward to reading the trilogy and get an even more comprehensive understanding of what attachment is all about and how big the impact is when the process doesn't get off to a good start or is disturbed somewhere along the line. When we better understand in what ways symptoms may show underlying problems, we will all be able to better support loved ones and make up for what was lost. Marianne Vanderveen, Netherlands