Welcome September! Time for a new beginning, the best time. It is also perfect for ending some old problems. Two of the most important ones are substance abuse and criminal behavior. While we used to think that they started in the teen and young adult years, research tells us differently — that those difficulties really begin in the first three years.
While all parents want to do the best for their babies and small children, modern life presents a different story — obstacles. While all moms would love to be around their babies more, many are too busy, stressed or both. Oh dear, that means the first and most important mother-child relationship is at-risk. Important bonding and attachment from the start impacts all child growth and development in the future. What happens in those first years forms a foundation that can either bode well or poorly for later life. Interestingly enough, “relationships” is the key word. Poor ones are the most commonly found dysfunction with teen and young adult addiction, suicide and violence.
Surprisingly, this parent-child bonding concept is not new. On the contrary, it started to emerge in the 1960’s with a theory set forth by John Bowlby, a British psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who was noted for his pioneering work. In essence, he proclaimed that children who had a strong attachment with an attentive caregiver grew up confident and resilient and that children, who had either insecure attachments or none at all, had trouble forming strong emotional bonds in later life.
