This presentation describes the development of attachment relationships and personal development as concurrent and mutually influencing processes. Personal agency is reframed as a relational attribute, and the developmental markers that indicate the attainment of Agency in Relationships are outlined. This presentation discusses three major premises of this approach: firstly that agency should be regarded as a relational attribute; secondly that improved efficacy in attachment relationships is interrelated with improved personal wellbeing; and thirdly that improved efficacy in attachment relationships goes hand in hand with improvements in general relationships and functioning.
This presentation outlines six developmental markers that indicate the attainment of Agency in Relationships. How current psychotherapeutic discourse frames these elements will be discussed and case vignettes will be used to illustrate them. The concurrent application of these developmental markers to both attachment and general relationships is described. Finally, implications of this approach for the therapeutic process will be discussed.