Giovanni Liotti (1945-2018): the Pied Noir of research in attachment and psychotherapy

This article is a portrait of Giovanni Liotti, eminent psychiatrist and scholar of attachment theory who recently passed away. In this paper, we recall some fundamental steps in his professional and personal life: Liotti's encounter and friendship with Bowlby; Liotti's construction of a br...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Attachment & human development 2020-09, Vol.22 (5), p.582-591
Main Authors: Farina, Benedetto, Onofri, Antonio, Monticelli, Fabio, Cotugno, Armando, Talia, Alessandro, Liotti, Marianna
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
cooperation
disorganized attachment
dissociative disorders
Giovanni Liotti
John Bowlby
Liotti
Psychotherapy
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Summary:This article is a portrait of Giovanni Liotti, eminent psychiatrist and scholar of attachment theory who recently passed away. In this paper, we recall some fundamental steps in his professional and personal life: Liotti's encounter and friendship with Bowlby; Liotti's construction of a bridge between cognitive therapy (of which he was a pioneer) and attachment theory; the interest in attachment disorganization as a precursor of dissociative symptoms and syndromes in adolescence and adulthood; his appreciation for Janet's ideas (which Liotti helped bring back to the attention of clinicians and researchers) and his contribution in highlighting the role of real traumatic experiences in the development of psychopathology; Liotti's attempt to go beyond attachment theory and formulate for the clinical context an evolutionary theory of motivation, which analyzes different interpersonal motivational systems beyond attachment and caregiving, an emphasizes in particular the importance of cooperation in psychotherapy.
ISSN:1461-6734
1469-2988
DOI:10.1080/14616734.2019.1640258