Unhealthy Attachment Essay

Developmental Issues That Impede Healthy Attachment in Infancy
There are numerous obstacles which may impede healthy attachment from developing during infancy. Healthy attachment during infancy occurs when an emotional bond is formed between parent and child. “It begins before birth solidifies by age 1, and influences relationships throughout life” (Berger, 2011). Chapter five discusses the topic Necessary and Possible Experiences as it relates to brain development which is essential for healthy attachment in infants. Therefore, in order for proper development to materialize it is necessary that the infant is exposed to the basic expected experience which allows for normal brain maturation.
Brain maturation as it relates to unhealthy attachment may correlate with dependent experiences due to the particular person or environment that the infant interacts with. Dependent experiences may prove advantageous to forming healthy attachments for language development and emotional stability in infancy. However, in relation to contributing to unhealthy attachment dependent experiences may contribute to how babies interpret and respond to their environment. “Particular experiences vary, such as which language babies hear, what faces they see, or how their mother reacts

to frustration”(Berger, 2011). In connection with these variables the infant’s brain is formed and linked whether it is a contributing factor for unhealthy attachment or not.
Chapter five delves further into the Implications for Caregiver as relates to obstacles encounter during infancy which may contribute to unhealthy attachment.

For survival and growth it is essential that infants receive affection and regular interaction in order to ensure proper development and healthy attachment. Implications that impede healthy attachment are often the result lack of attention and stimulation from parent to child bonding. “This means that caressing a newborn, talking to a preverbal infant, and showing affection towards a toddler is essential for development” (Berger, 2011). To ensure that infants develop heathy attachments as oppose to unhealthy ones much lies with the care giver of the

child.
Another implication that can impede healthy attachment is how social impulses foster infant language in terms of development. This is discuss in detail in chapter six of the text where it states that social-pragmatic correlates with communication. “According to this perspective, infants communicate because humans are social being” (Berger, 2011). This statement suggest that even at an early age the desire for infants to communicate is innately felt. Depending on numerous factors contributing to development in infancy how an obstacle that prevents healthy attachment often starts with indirect communication.
Indirect communication occurs when learning association is taught through a video tape. Although an infant may be able to associate what they have learned from a video tape the learning curve deviates. According to the text which states that “In a controlled experiment, 1 year- olds learned vocabulary much better when someone taught them” (Berger, 2011). Another factor to be consider which may contribute to obstacles regarding healthy attachment is the lack of synchrony between caregiver and infant. Synchrony is defined as a series of rapid responses between parent and infant.
The lack of synchrony between infant and caregiver may often result in an unhealthy attachment whereas emotions and responses expresses are minimal or non-existent due to the caregiver’s lack of attention. The result of lack of synchrony and its consequences for healthy attachment may result in the still-face technique. “An experimental practice in which an adult keeps his/her face unmoving and expressionless in face to face interaction with an infant” (Berger, 2011).