Life scripts and attachment patterns: theoretical integration and therapeutic involvement

Abstract

Eric Berne originally described life scripts as being formed from the primal dramas and implicit protocols of infancy and early childhood. John Bowlby’s attachment theory and the supporting research provide a theoretical integration with script theory and suggest the necessity of a developmental focus in psychotherapy. Secure, anxious/ambivalent, avoidant, disorganized, and isolated attachment patterns are described in relation to life scripts and their implications for psychotherapy.