Crying, Caregiving and Connection: An Attachment Perspective Book

Nelson has a really good idea here, and I feel that my clinical work with clients benefited from the connection between crying behaviors and attachment theory that this book advances. At the same time, the research and clinical basis of the work underwhelmed, relying heavily on anecdotal and literary examples and sometimes dismissing contradictory evidence or theory rather than giving it a full hearing. In general, Nelson's points made a good deal of sense, but her cavalier attitude toward a lack of empirical evidence rather surprised me. In addition, Nelson operates and theorizes almost exclusively from a psychodynamic perspective, causing many of her recommendations, examples, and theories to feel inapplicable to people who work in more time-limited contexts or with greater attention paid to short-term, objective changes in symptoms. I initially started reading this book as a response to a client who had frequent, uncontrollable crying spells, and the material did help tremendously in my conceptualization of and interaction with this client. A clinician facing a similar situation might expect similar benefits.