The still face experiment, conducted by Dr. Edward Tronick, is a very powerful demonstration of early attachment behavior… behavior that plays out in marriage decades latter. The experiment vividly demonstrates a young child’s reaction to maternal coldness and non-response. Sue Johnson’s ground breaking work on emotion focused couples therapy is based on the insight that couples insecurities/conflicts are rooted in the same attachment behaviors evident between mothers and children depicted in the film.
Almost without exception, when shown this video, couples are deeply moved… and commonly see instant parallels between the video and their marital difficulties. The pursuers in marriage powerfully relate to the absent mother as similar to their feeling with their avoiding partner… who feels so absent to them. Likewise, watching the video often gives avoiders a first ever deep insight into what happens to their pursuing partner when they make distance from them.
https://youtu.be/apzXGEbZht0
