
For example, romantic or platonic partners desire to be close to one another, similar to how children desire to be close to their caregivers. Hazan and Shaver noticed that interactions between adults were similar to interactions between children and caregivers. Cindy Hazan and Phillip Shaver furthered research in attachment theory on adult relationships. In the 1980s, Sue Johnson began using attachment theory in adult therapy. Children and caregivers remained the primary focus of attachment theory for many years.

Mary Ainsworth and John Bowlby founded modern attachment theory on studies of children and their caregivers. They have also explored how attachment impacts relationship outcomes and how attachment functions in relationship dynamics.Ĭontinuing the attachment theory Investigators have explored the organization and the stability of mental working models that underlie these attachment styles. The working models of children found in Bowlby's attachment theory form a pattern of interaction likely to continue influencing adult relationships. Attachment theory, initially studied in the 1960s and 1970s primarily in the context of children and parents, was extended to adult relationships in the late 1980s. She has worked in the past as a corporate consultant for several management consulting firms, including PriceWaterhouseCoopers, KPMG Consulting and Towers Perrin, where she managed high profile clients.In psychology, the theory of attachment can be applied to adult relationships including friendships, emotional affairs, adult romantic and carnal relationships, and, in some cases, relationships with inanimate objects (" transitional objects"). Heller, M.A., holds a master’s degree in social-organizational psychology from Columbia University. To inquire about a consultation email: Read more » Levine has a private practice (which is often conducted via telemedicine) where he supervises and trains therapists from all over the world in attachment-neuroscience based treatments as well as sees individuals and couples for consultation and treatment. He is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University, where he is currently a Principal Investigator on a research project sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.



Amir Levine, M.D., is an adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist and neuroscientist.
