Attachments: Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Psychoanalysis

For three decades Jeremy Holmes has been a leading figure in psychodynamic psychiatry in the UK and across the world. He has played a central role in promoting the ideas of John Bowlby and in developing the clinical applications – psychiatric and psychotherapeutic – of Attachment Theory in working with adults. Drawing on both psychoanalytic and attachment ideas, Holmes has been able to encompass a truly biopsychosocial perspective. As a psychotherapist Holmes brings together psychodynamic, systemic and cognitive models, alert to vital differences, but also keenly sensitive to overlaps and parallels.

This volume of selected papers brings together the astonishing range of Holmes' interests and contributions. The various sections in the book cover:

An extended interview – covering Holmes’ career and philosophy as a psychodynamic psychiatrist

'Juvenilia' – sibling relationships, the psychology of nuclear weapons, and the psychodynamics of surgical intervention.

Psychodynamic psychiatry: Integrative and Attachment-Informed

A psychotherapy section in which he develops his model of psychotherapeutic change

'Heroes' – biographical pieces about the major influences including, John Bowlby, Michael Balint, David

Malan, Jonathan Pedder and Charles Rycroft.


'Ephemera' – brief pieces covering such topics as frequency of psychodynamic sessions and fees.

Attachments: Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Psychoanalysis - The Selected Works of Jeremy Holmes will be essential and illuminating reading for practitioners and students of psychiatry and psychotherapy in all its guises.