Attachment: Volume 1 Number 1

ATTACHMENT: New Directions in Psychotherapy and Relational Psychoanalysis is a peer-reviewed professional journal for psychotherapists and counsellors published by The Bowlby Centre, formerly The Centre for Attachment-based Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. We welcome contributions that further attachment-based relational psychotherapy and counselling from colleagues of all clinical orientations. Attachment is a professional journal, and, as such, we encourage colleagues to submit accounts of clinical work, poems, personal experiences, and reviews of books, films, and exhibits, which are consistent with our values, and that they feel can make a contribution to the ongoing development of an attachment and relational approach to clinical work.

Our values for clinical work are:
– We believe that mental distress has its origin in failed or inadequate attachment relationships in early life and is best treated in the context of a long-term human relationship;
– Attachment relationships are shaped in a social world that includes poverty, discrimination, and social inequality. The effects of the social world are a necessary part of the therapy;
– Psychotherapy should be available to all, and from the attachment perspective, especially those discriminated against or described as ‘unsuitable’ for therapy;
– Psychotherapy needs to be provided with respect, warmth, openness, a readiness to interact and relate, and free from discrimination of any kind;
– Those who have been silenced about their experiences and survival strategies need to have their reality acknowledged and not pathologised.

Colleagues considering a submission to the journal may find it useful to contact the editor, editor.attachment@gmail.com, with a sketch of their idea. We will work with all interested authors and in no case will we reject a submission without consultation with the author. We are mindful of the sensitivity of clinical work and the feelings of colleagues that writing about their work risks objectifying the therapeutic relationship. We take the view, however, that exchanges between colleagues about clinical work are essential to the development of our field and is in the best interests of our clients. Colleagues are encouraged to contact editor.attachment@gmail.com, to discuss these or any other concerns they may have about writing.

Procedure for submissions

Articles should be typewritten, using double spacing, in Microsoft Word format.

All contributions should be addressed to the Editor and sent to editor.attachment@gmail.com

Submissions of full papers, including abstract and references, should be a maximum of 8,000 words in length. They should comprise two files, to assist in the editorial review process:
– The first should include the paper, together with its title, a list of keywords, a list of references, and an abstract.
– The second should include a cover page for the paper with its title, the author’s name and contact details (including postal and email addresses), and a brief biographical summary of up to 150 words. For clinical reports, please include the name and e-mail address of one colleague who can serve as one of three referees.

Language: Contributions should be written in English. Authors may choose to use British English or American English in first drafts, but please note final published material will be in British English.

Abstracts: All papers must be accompanied by an abstract. This should be a maximum of 200 words.

References: Should be compiled using the publisher’s house style. Full details can be found here.

Artwork: The inclusion of figures and images in contributions must be approved by the editor. If the editor agrees, then the following applies. Unless otherwise agreed in advance, all artwork must be submitted in black and white.

Format: The preferred format is high-resolution PDFs, TIFF or JPEGs (please note that any JPEGs downloaded from the internet will only be 72dpi and too low resolution).

Resolution: Black and white artwork (bitmap): 600 dpi. Photographs or any shaded matter (greyscale): 300 dpi. Fine tints in the artwork are not allowed as they do not reproduce well once printed.

Important: Graphics embedded in the Word file will not be of sufficient resolution for print-quality; they are useful as a guideline for positioning and identification purposes only. Therefore, please ensure that all graphics are supplied separately in PDF, TIFF or JPEG format, as specified above, in addition to being embedded in the Word document.

See the “Permissions” section below regarding the reproduction of others’ work.

Author’s declaration: Authors are asked to complete and send with their manuscript an “author’s declaration” confirming confidentiality, originality, and copyright. A copy of this declaration can be downloaded here.

If there is more than one author, please ensure that each author signs the declaration.

Confidentiality and consent: Contributors are expected to use all possible means of assuring the confidentiality of those about whom they write, such as disguising significant aspects of the case material. Alternatively, authors should acquire their subjects’ consent. In general terms, contributors are required to follow the procedure adopted in their own countries which govern the conduct of their work with human or animal subjects. If requiring further advice, authors are invited to discuss these matters with a member of the journal’s International Advisory Board in their country.

Originality: Papers submitted for publication are accepted on the understanding that they are the author’s / authors’ own work and that where the work of others is referred to or quoted, this is clearly attributed. Papers should not have been published elsewhere or be currently submitted to other publications.

Peer review: All papers will be subject to peer review. In order to preserve anonymity in this process, the authors should supply the editor with two separate documents, as detailed above. When assessing the acceptability of the submission, peer reviewers are asked to consider the following questions:
– Is the paper readable, accessible, and interesting?
– Does it make appropriate use of psychoanalytic theory?
– Does it make appropriate use of attachment theory and psychoanalytic theory?
– Is there appropriate use of case material?
– Does it make a contribution to learning about attachment?

Copy dates: Whilst the Editor will welcome contributions at any time, authors should note that final copy dates for forthcoming issues will normally be on 1 February and 1 August of each year.

Editorial procedure: We attempt to give writers first feedback within one month of submission. We will never reject a submission without consultation with the author, but not all papers can be accepted for publication. In the interests of clarity and style, we reserve the right to sub-edit manuscripts, but all changes will be cleared with authors before publication to ensure that meanings have not been changed. We encourage the use of inclusive language and non-medical descriptions of mental pain.