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Relationships and the Developing Mind

by Daniel J. Siegel
November/December 1999
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Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/relationships-and-the-developing-mind/5013048/

Children need adults in their lives with whom they can be attached. Attachment can involve a few selected individuals, including parents, grandparents, other relatives, nannies, child care providers, and preschool teachers. These "selective attachments" offer children the chance to develop an internal model of security about the world, and allow their minds to develop a sense of emotional well-being and psychological resilience. In The Developing Mind: Toward a Neurobiology of Interpersonal Experience, I propose a view of how these attachments shape the structure and function of the brain, starting early in life and continuing throughout the lifespan.

The Truth About Attachment

Attachment relationships are important in the unfolding of the emotional and social development of the child during the early years of life. Development is an ongoing process, and so close, emotionally involving relationships continue to influence us throughout the lifespan. The importance of the first years may be that the brain structures that mediate social and emotional functioning begin to develop during this time in a manner that appears to be dependent upon interpersonal experience.

Brain Development

Patterns of interpersonal communication may have a powerful effect on how the early brain develops in very specific ways. There are circuits that are responsible for emotional ...

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