About the lecture

In this lecture, we think about caregiver sensitivity, focusing in particular on: (i) the role of oxytocin levels in biobehavioural synchrony, in both female and male caregivers; (ii) Gergely and Watson’s paper on perception and social biofeedback, focusing on eye contact between mother and child; (iii) Grossman’s model of parental attachment roles.

About the lecturer

Jeremy Holmes is a visiting professor of psychology at the University of Exeter. He is a consultant psychiatrist and a psychoanalytic psychotherapist who specialises in attachment theory. Professor Holmes has authored a number of books on attachment theory, which explore its history, as well as bringing it together with modern psychoanalytical theory. Some of Professor Holmes’ recent publications include ‘Friston’s free energy principle: new life for psychoanalysis?’ (2021) and ‘Therapeutic mechanisms in attachment-informed psychotherapy in adults’ (2021).