The Adult Attachment Projective Picture System: Attachment Theory and Assessment in Adults

This book is about a narrative (or storytelling) method for assessing attachment status, and about the nature of attachment more generally. George and West recount the rationale and development of the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP), describe its administration and scoring, and explore the meaning of key internal variables. The AAP variables code aspects of the narrated world (for example, the character's ability to think productively, take action, and inhabit mutual relationships) and the language used to describe it (for example, words implying power, authority, confusion, threat). The case examples are especially helpful for connecting AAP coding to individual life experiences.A narrative approach to attachment assessment is not new with the AAP, having begun decades ago with doll play techniques. Narratives are one of the five main methods for describing individual differences in attachment, the others being observation, interview, Q-sort, and self-report questionnaire. Of these, the interview method, most notably the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), may still provide the most authoritative classification of an individual's attachment status into one of several broadly accepted categories and sub-categories. On the other hand, the AAP not only provides attachment classifications that are highly consistent with AAI results, it also provides a standardized environment for the observation of the actual moment-to-moment operation of the individual's internal mental model of relatedness.The AAP catches the mind at work and shows how defenses are deployed and internal resources accessed. This abundance of information beyond attachment classification is a strength whose promise is not yet fully realized. Much of the clinical utility of attachment assessment has been to use attachment classification as a way of connecting the individual to what attachment theory and research say about those who share that classification. In this way, for example, it is possible to form hypotheses about developmental history (and, often, plans to rectify it). The AAP, however, is able to more precisely document the influence of history on the mind's ability to make sense of experience and relationships; for example, in ongoing work the corrosive impact of abuse can be seen in its erosion of reality testing and resourcefulness. Future work with the AAP may be able to refine attachment assessment further by identifying patterns of internal AAP variables that directly predict outcomes and behavior in the world external to the test.

George and West present a comprehensive, accessible introduction to the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System. The first third of the book covers the background and development of the measure and describes the content codes and defensive processes apparent in AAP narratives. The remaining chapters explain secure, dismissing, preoccupied, and unresolved attachment with detailed, engaging case examples. I found Chapter 9 to be particularly helpful- it introduces several different clinical presentations of unresolved attachment. The AAP is a valuable assessment and clinical tool, and I highly recommend this book as a helpful introduction to the measure.

This is a must read for any clinician, researcher, or graduate student interested in attachment theory. Not only does it give a thorough theoretical understanding of the development of AAP, it also includes new ideas and ways of looking at attachment. The clinical examples are also very useful in helping one understand the different adult attachment patterns, as well as illustrating the clinical utility of the AAP.

Me parece un instrumento muy interesante, consejo la lectura de este libro a todos los terapeutas que valoran mucho la teoría de apego adulto,.