Why love matters pdf

Return to Journal Articles. Biddulph, S. Gerhardt, S. Guldberg, H. Kristeva, J. Leach, P. Manne, A. Sydney: Allen and Unwin. Sears, W.

Siegel, D. Stephens, J. Powered by WordPress and the Graphene Theme. Psychotherapy and Counselling Journal of Australia. Home Issues Volume 9, No. Bolstering the work of the best-selling edition is this trade-meets-specialist publication that intersects neuropsychology with attachment theory to emphasise the foundational importance of secure attachment through one-on-one primary care. Click here to sign up. Download Free PDF. Why love matters.

Sue Gerhardt. A short summary of this paper. She has assembled and interpreted a wealth of biochemical and neurological research and viewed it through the prism of attachment theory to create a coherent thesis and approach to childcare. I had the pleasure of hearing Sue Gerhardt talk about this book at the launch party. She modestly admitted to a passion for bringing important but fairly impenetrable science to a wider audience and in this aim she has succeeded handsomely.

This is the part of the brain that enables us to manage our emotions, to relate sensitively to other people, to experience pleasure and to appreciate beauty. These children's earliest experiences had greatly diminished their capacity ever to be fully human. Sue Gerhardt's book Why Love Matters shows that early experience has effects on the development of both brain and personality that none of us can afford to ignore.

It was Margaret Ainsworth, a Canadian psychologist, who first demonstrated a robust connection between early childhood experience and personality.

For a large part of the s Ainsworth sat behind a two-way mirror in Baltimore and watched one-year-olds playing with their mothers. She noted what happened when the mother left the room for a few minutes and how the child responded when she returned.

She then took the study a stage further and studied what happened when, instead of the mother, a stranger entered the room and tried to engage with the child. Ainsworth's "Strange Situation" study, together with John Bowlby's attachment theory, showed that how a child developed was not the result of a general mish-mash of experiences, but the direct result of the way the child's main carer responded to and engaged with him or her. A neglectful, stressed or inconsistent parent gave the kind of care which tended to lead to anxious, insecure or avoidant children.

Further studies showed that patterns of attachment behaviour in one-year-olds could accurately predict how those children would behave aged five and eight.

Although attachment theory has been massively influential in many ways, underpinning psychology and psychotherapy ever since, it has never achieved general credibility. The kind of "proof" provided by psychologists has never quite washed with a sceptical public. Sitting in a room watching babies - what kind of proof is that? How can anyone know what a baby is thinking and feeling? Isn't it all just woolly liberal conjecture? Added to this, an entire generation of feminists hated attachment theory from the word go, accusing Bowlby of being against working women and wanting to shackle women to the home.

More filters. Sort order. Aug 18, Cameron rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: people interested in psychology. Shelves: non-fiction. This book changed my life. I had never thought about social development in the terms in which Gerhardt proposes.

And I've never been so self-aware. Still, sometimes I can't help thinking ignorance is bliss Oct 04, Maria rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: Potential parents. Fascinating book giving a solid argument for importance of empathic and responsive care in early infancy. The care we receive as babies sews the seeds for future adult relationships and how feelings are regulated psychologically and physiologically. If a baby is not regulated well by the parent he will find it difficult to regulate his own feelings as an adult.

Being cared for by a depressed and unresponsive mother can have a devastating effect on a babies ability to develop good secure coping m Fascinating book giving a solid argument for importance of empathic and responsive care in early infancy. Being cared for by a depressed and unresponsive mother can have a devastating effect on a babies ability to develop good secure coping mechanisms.

All parents should read this before they decide to have children! Sep 13, Angeles rated it it was amazing. This book has been an amazing discovery.

The way the author has been able to translate recent hard-science evidence into intelligible information is great. I'd like this book to be made compulsory reading at university, when one is mature enough to reflect about what it means to create a new life, and to try to gather information about our own infancy and how it may influence our emotions around parent-motherhood.

This book is an invitation to think, not only about family but also about society, This book has been an amazing discovery. This book is an invitation to think, not only about family but also about society, and the collective consequences that have our individual choices - sometimes ill informed and automatic.

Nov 17, Maevis rated it really liked it Shelves: psychology. Why Love Matters is a very read-able and accessible foray into the world of attachment between a baby and their caregiver. Gerhardt uses scientific evidence to illustrate the importance of a loving bond but does so in a way that is easy to follow.

I believe that this book is useful for practitioners but also invaluable for parents. Jul 20, Wendy rated it really liked it.

Thought-provoking, challenging, worrying and informative. An important read for parents, especially first time parents who are particularly vulnerable to often well-intentioned but misguided advice. This book looks at how stress under the age of two affects a baby's brain and social development, and how our early parenting choices-to leave baby to cry or not-can affect the long term physical and emotional health of our children, and by extension, the health of our society. This book presents the Thought-provoking, challenging, worrying and informative.

This book presents the interesting viewpoint that the crucial role of parents in the first 6 months is to act as emotional regulators for their babies, and how their willingness or capacity to act in this role can affect their babies' social or antisocial behaviour, as well as their own parenting, in later life.

Four stars because this is a book everybody could benefit from reading, but not five stars because the overly academic tone means it's unlikely to reach the wider audience.

Jun 14, Artemis D Bear rated it it was amazing. This book blew my mind. Along with Unconditional Parenting by Alfie Kohn it's one of the most important books on parenting I've read. Drawing together compellingly presented, well researched evidence from neuroscience, psychology, psychoanalysis and biochemistry, Sue Gerhart provides an excellent account of why a developing brain requires responsive nurture. View 1 comment. Apr 09, Scottie rated it it was ok.

Too technical for what I wanted, haven't finished it and won't. Great if you want the scientific details. I want love and hugs matter kinda stuff.

View 2 comments. Aug 19, Susan Okeefe rated it it was amazing. This is such a fantastic read. The author explains in easy to understand writing how important the relationship is between mother main caretaker and child the first 6 months of life.

The amount of stress a baby feels can affect brain development and how stress is dealt with for the rest of his life. Not tending to a babies' needs can have disastrous results for the baby.

I especially enjoyed the research studies done in this area. Feb 09, Clare rated it it was amazing. Recommended reading for my Neuroscience for Therapists course, this has been a joy to read, in no way the chore I was anticipating. Written by a British author sorry my American friends, but what a lovely change!

Here's a non-p. May 17, Brooke rated it it was amazing. Amazing book. Everyone should read this, especially parents or to-be parents. This book showed me why I react to stressors the way I do and how I can change my reactions. It also hopefully will stop the cycle so my daughter will be raised differently than how I was.

Aug 02, Jo added it. Jan 09, Lora rated it it was amazing. This book supports the theory I made in my own book that trauma suffered in childhood can severely affect your health both as a child and in later life.

Sep 25, Bjoern Rochel rated it really liked it Shelves: