Creating the capacity for attachment
Subtitle: treating addictions and the alienated self
By: by Karen B. Walant.
Publisher: J. Aronson
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Northvale, N.J
Language: eng
Number of pages: 306
Subjects: Intimacy (Psychology); Personality disorders -- Treatment.; Substance abuse -- Treatment.; Empathy.; Alienation (Social psychology); Child rearing.
Description: Detached, alienated people, many of them functioning with a pathologically developed false self, barely navigate life's challenges. Our cultural emphasis on autonomy and separateness has led to a retreat from valuing interpersonal, communal dependence and has greatly contributed to a rise in the number of people whose suffering is often expressed in addictions and personality disorders.

Using actual patient material, including diaries and letters, Karen Walant's Creating the Capacity for Attachment shows how "immersive moments" in therapy - moments of complete understanding between patient and therapist - are powerful enough to dislodge the alienated, detached self from its hiding place and enable the individual to begin incorporating the inner core into the external, social self.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [293]-299) and index.