Attachment, Mentalizing and Trauma: Then (1992) and Now (2022)

Peter Fonagy; Chloe Campbell; Patrick Luyten

doi:10.3390/brainsci13030459

Attachment, Mentalizing and Trauma: Then (1992) and Now (2022)

Brain Sci. 2023 Mar 8;13(3):459. doi: 10.3390/brainsci13030459.

Authors

Peter Fonagy¹, Chloe Campbell¹, Patrick Luyten^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
² Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium.

Abstract

This article reviews the current status of research on the relationship between attachment and trauma in developmental psychopathology. Beginning with a review of the major issues and the state-of-the-art in relation to current thinking in the field of attachment about the impact of trauma and the inter-generational transmission of trauma, the review then considers recent neurobiological work on mentalizing and trauma and suggests areas of new development and implications for clinical practice.

Keywords: attachment; developmental psychopathology; mentalizing; trauma.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

Peter Fonagy is in part supported by the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) North Thames at Barts Health NHS Trust. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.