Journal of Psychotherapy Integration

Attachment in psychotherapy: Psychometric properties of the Psychological Treatment Inventory Attachment Styles Scale (PTI-ASS).
Considering attachment as a principal that can link the main psychotherapy models, this study describes the creation of a new measure of Attachment in accordance both with Bowlby's original theories and with recent advances in psychotherapy integration. This study aims to explain the theoretical principles underlying the Psychological Treatment Inventory (PTI; Gori, Giannini, & Schuldberg, 2008) and to verify the psychometrics properties (dimensional structure, validity, reliability) of the PTI Attachment Styles Scale (ASS). The sample was composed of 566 persons divided into two groups: 1) Nonclinical sample (521 subjects), and 2) Clinical sample (45 subjects). All participants completed the PTI Attachment Styles Scale; to verify some aspects of concurrent validity, a portion of the nonclinical sample (Group 1) completed the Italian version of the Experience in Close Relationship Questionnaire (ECR) and the Italian version of the Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ). Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis were used to verify the factor structure of the instrument. Internal consistency was verified using Cronbach's alpha. Some aspects of concurrent validity were verified using Pearson's r coefficents, correlating Attachment Scale factors with ECR and ASQ factors. Discriminant ability was assessed using t tests comparing the clinical group and the nonclinical groups' scores. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) showed a structure with four factors. Results were confirmed by Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) (NNFI = .97; CFI = .97; RMSEA = .07). PTI Attachment Styles Scale (ASS) showed good internal consistency (Secure, α = .80; Preoccupied, α = .81; Avoidant, α = .75; Unresolved, α = .80). Correlation between the PTI Attachment Styles Scale (ASS), the ECR, and the ASQ scales was statistically significant. Attachment theory provides an empirically grounded framework for understanding important aspects of interpersonal functioning in children as well as adults. Recently, attachment theory has found increasing use within the field of individual psychotherapy with adults and this new measure can be useful for both research and practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)
An attachment based integrative psychotherapy for anxiety disorders.
In this article I describe an assimilative, integrative treatment for patients who suffer from complicated anxiety disorders. It is hypothesized that these disorders reflect problems in attachment; namely, that insecure attachment experiences have led to difficulties and fears about exploring the world. It further is hypothesized, based on repeated clinical experiences, that this form of treatment is necessary, and will be more effective than standard, manualized forms of therapy. Stages of treatment and methods of intervening at each stage are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)
Johnson's philosophy of personal meaning and theoretical integration.
Theoretical integration has been a controversial approach. Many agree that it is highly desirable, but also that it may be impossible to accomplish because concepts and procedures do not mean the same thing when transferred into a different theoretical context. This article presents an underlying view of human meaning creation developed by Mark Johnson that provides a basis for theoretical integration of therapies by explaining how lived, experiential meaning and formal, logical thought and language are all points along a single process continuum. Some implications for theoretical integration and clinical practice are suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)
Correction to Prenn (2011).
Reports an error in "Mind the gap: AEDP interventions translating attachment theory into clinical practice" by Natasha Prenn ( Journal of Psychotherapy Integration , 2011[Sep], Vol 21[3], 308-329). Due to mistakes in the production process there was an error printed in the fourth sentence of the block quote on page 323. The fourth sentence should have read, “In this way patient and therapist collaborate on constructing an intimate relationship.” The online version of this article has been corrected. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2011-21820-005.) There has been a gap between the prolific attachment theory and research literature and a relative paucity of guidance about how to apply attachment theory to clinical practice. AEDP (Accelerated Experiential-Dynamic Psychotherapy) explicitly fills this theory/practice gap. This article will explore three aspects of clinical practice that foster secure attachment bonds, and will also address what kind of therapist an attachment therapist is. It will outline the importance of nonverbal communication; it will start to catalogue what I call experiential language: specific words and interventions that are evocative of experience and emotion. Finally it will assert that self-disclosure is an essential attachment-creating intervention, and it will explain the importance of metaprocessing and Metatherapeutic processing to titrate therapeutic interactions moment-to-moment in session and to promote metacognitional thinking as well. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)

Journal of Psychotherapy Integration - Vol 21, Iss 4