FAMILY ATTACHMENT NARRATIVE THERAPY: HEALING THE EXPERIENCE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD MALTREATMENT

Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, Jul 2005 by May, Joanne C

The Importance of Narrative

The inability to form a coherent strategy to ensure protection from the caregiver has also been identified in the narratives of maltreated children. Children exposed to disruption and family violence typically construct an incoherent, chaotic life narrative (Osofsky, 1993). Their stories frequently depict terrifying scenarios of violence and death without a comforting solution (Main, Kaplan, & Cassidy, 1985). In contrast, the stories of securely attached children seem to portray a fairytale motif in which the parent and child protagonists struggle, find a solution, and, ultimately, live happily ever after (Solomon, George, & DeJong, 1995). When faced with a frightening situation, the inability to contemplate a solution seems to retard developmental accomplishments and interfere with successful processing of subsequent traumatic experiences (Pynoos, Steinberg, & Goenjian, 1996). A coherent narrative reflects the child's ability to make sense of life experiences. The left hemisphere of the brain is used to tell the events of the story, whereas a right hemisphere function is necessary to incorporate the subjective, social, and emotional meaning of the internal life of the characters. Thus, a coherent narrative involves an integration of both hemispheres (Siegel, 1999; Siegel & Hartzell, 2003). Narrative memory refers to the stories that are used to store and recall life experiences. Children learn cultural roles and expectations by listening to narratives told by parents. Parents also use stories to communicate an understanding of the child's perceptions, beliefs, emotions, memories, and intentions (Siegel, 1999).

The child's emotion, sensation, perception, and internal model of the caregiver are all molded by experiences occurring before the child develops language and an autobiographical narrative. The parent's attunement with the child is primarily physiological during this implicit stage of memory development, As the child begins to use language to communicate, an explicit form of memory emerges that is both factual and episodic. Words used by the parent communicate an understanding of the child's perspective and emotional state. In the process, the emotional connection or attunement between parent and child is enhanced (Siegel, 1999).

The sharing of words between parent and child establishes the meaning of concepts, such as love, freedom, truth, good, and evil. As the child develops the capacity to use language to share thoughts and feelings with the parent, a common perspective is shared and internalized. In so doing, the child gains the capacity to take the point of view of another. This process of verbally interacting with others and with self is essential in the development of the ability to evaluate present behavior and attitudes and plan for change in the future. When this process does not take place, behavior is usually instinctive, impulsive, or learned through imitation and experience (Charon, 1985). Fonagy et al. (1996) hypothesize that some victims of childhood maltreatment cope by refusing to consider the abusive parent's thoughts and consequently, avoid thinking about the parent's wish to harm them. This defensive disruption of the child's ability to decipher mental states in themselves and others leaves them responding to an inaccurate impression of the thoughts and feelings of others. In contrast, parent-child reflective dialogue that identifies the mental state that fuels behavior, perceptions, feelings, intentions, goals, beliefs, and desires seems to promote both a secure attachment and the integrative process of co-construction of narratives. The result is a resilient perspective that promotes social competence, autonomy, and self-determination (Siegel, 1999).