AAI Discussion

Recently during class we have been having group work and discussions about the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). The Adult Attachment Interview is an interview where the client is asked to give five adjectives to describe his/her mother and five adjectives to describe his/her father. After the client gives five adjectives for one of his/her parents the client is then asked to describe instances or specific memories in which the client remembers the parent demonstrating the specific adjective give. For example, if the client describes his/her mother as loving the client then would describe a memory in which the mother demonstrated loving acts towards the client. These specific memories or instances given by the client are used to determine which attachment style the client has. The attachment styles are as follows: secure-autonomous, preoccupied, dismissive-avoidant, and unresolved.

                During class we also discussed different reactions that adults could give during this interview that would indicate which attachment style best fits the client’s personality. Those with a secure-autonomous attachment were characterized by responses such as the following: coherence, fresh memories, balance, and believablility. Preoccupied attachment is characterized by anger, passivity, and difficulty with seizing on words. Dismissive/avoidant attachment is characterized by difficulty remembering, cannot recall details, generic, idealism, and values material items. Finally, unresolved attachment is characterized by lack of coherence, sensory invasion, and lapse in monitoring of reasoning with respect to loss.

                The attachment that I found most interesting was the dismissive/avoidant attachment style. I do not believe that I am characterized by this attachment but I do find this style quite intriguing. I find this attachment interesting because the adult client could think in his/her mind that their relationship with their parent is healthy and secure when in fact the relationship is the opposite. Many of the characteristics that describe dismissive attachment involves the client viewing their relationship with their parent in a way that idealizes the parent yet lacks in substance. For example, the client might describe his/her father as supportive but fails to remember any memories, cannot recall details, and becomes very generic in his/her descriptions of the father. It was also discussed in class that these students could find value in material items and mention that they were “spoiled” growing up. This often indicates that the parents might have given material goods to the client as a child in order to compensate for not spending time with them during childhood.

                From my exposure to this subject during this class and my previous knowledge concerning attachment styles I found this Adult Attachment Interview to be quite helpful. Dr. Knight discussed in class that may times clients will describe his/her parents in a positive and admirable way in order to appear as “normal” to the counselor yet when it comes down to recalling specific memories of these descriptions, the clients cannot fake their true experiences. Also, I found it interesting (and relieving) that difficulty recalling memories are different then not having memories to recall. As I was doing our class group work I found it difficult to come up with specific memories to coincide with the adjectives that I designated to each parent. After taking a couple of minutes to truly think back to my childhood it became easier to remember specific memories. I greatly befitted from discussing the AAI during class and I can clearly see the benefit of using this interview in future counseling sessions.