【The Nakano Method】The Laws of Attachment: Basic Principles and Clinical Significance

>> 日本語で読む (Read in Japanese)

Introduction

These laws redefine the concept of "Internal Working Model (IWM)" in John Bowlby's Attachment Theory from a control engineering and neuroscientific perspective. They establish the theoretical foundation of [The Nakano Method] Psychotherapy, developed to resolve the confusion between "cause" and "effect" prevalent in traditional attachment theory and clinical practice.
These laws are established as a "Superior Concept" that encompasses Bowlby's Attachment Theory and integrates it with Transactional Analysis (TA), enabling practical clinical application.

These laws redefine the concept of "Internal Working Model (IWM)" in John Bowlby's Attachment Theoy from a control engineering and neuroscientific perspective. They establish the theoretical foundation of [The Nakano Method] Psychotherapy, developed to resolve the confusion between "cause" and "effect" prevalent in traditional attachment theory and clinical practice.

These laws are established as a "Superior Concept" that encompasses Bowlby's Attachment Theory and integrates it with Transactional Analysis (TA), enabling practical clinical application.

This framework is not an isolated idea but a synthesis of established psychological theories.

👉 See the Theoretical Background: A Synthesis of Western Science and Eastern Art

Theoretical Background: A Synthesis of Western Science and Eastern Art

2025.12.17

>> 日本語で読む (Read in Japanese) Note on Theoretical Framework While the original Japane...

Law 1: [Development] The Law of Transformation from Initial Settings to Mental Image

Definition

For infants, attachment is a biological "Initial Setting"—a system seeking behavioral proximity to a caregiver. However, after language acquisition (especially in adulthood), this initial setting is internalized and transformed into a representational system called the "Mental Image (IWM)," which governs the subsequent life.

Clinical Significance

Adult attachment disturbance is a problem of the internal system, not requiring a physical other (parent or partner). Therefore, there is no need to rely on "luck without reproducibility," such as searching for an external secure base.
By directly modifying the "Mental Image" through psychological intervention using Nakano ART (Attachment Re-formation Therapy), it becomes possible to overcome the issue autonomously and with high reproducibility.

To understand how we rewrite the deepest "Initial Settings" using imagery, see: The Neuroscience of Spiritual Care

Law 2: [Function] The Law of Formation, Maintenance, and Reinforcement of Belief Systems and Life Scripts

Definition

The Mental Image formed in Law 1 is generalized and verbalized along with cognitive development, structured into a "Belief System" that defines the self and the world. In adulthood, this belief system is completed as a "Life Script," unconsciously determining one's subsequent destiny and life conclusion.

Clinical Significance

The reality of an adult's IWM is not a vague image but a logically constructed "Life Script (Narrative)." Current difficulties in life are merely the result of distorted beliefs (e.g., "I am unlovable") derived from past experiences, continuously creating reality according to the script.

In other words, the adult IWM functions as a "Mental OS (Operating System)" that predicts and plans everything from daily life to future life plans, controlling thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.

Therefore, fundamental treatment requires visualizing the unconscious script using TA Developmental Collage Therapy and simultaneously performing "Script Rewriting (Re-decision)" on the erroneous construction.

TA Developmental Collage Therapy: The "X-Ray" of the Mind – Visualizing the Unconscious Life Script

2025.12.11

>> 日本語で読む (Read in Japanese) TA Developmental Collage Therapy is the "X-Ray" of the ...

Law 3: [Transmission] The Law of Intergenerational Chain (Copying)

Definition

The parent's Mental Image (IWM) is faithfully "copied" to the child's IWM through non-verbal and unconscious interactions, independent of specific behaviors or language, causing attachment patterns to chain across generations.

Clinical Significance

This "copying" mechanism can create not only vicious cycles but also virtuous cycles. If a parent upgrades their own "Mental OS," that change is immediately and non-verbally transmitted to the child.

Therefore, intervention for the parent is the shortest route to fundamentally improving the child's mental health in the shortest possible time.

Supplementary Information (Technical Requirements)

Necessity of Low-Arousal State

Direct intervention in the IWM requires securing a "Low-Arousal State (Safety Mode)" as a mandatory principle. This is analogous to anesthesia in surgery, designed to avoid the risk of re-traumatization caused by hyper-arousal and to perform processing within a neurophysiologically safe zone.

Ensuring Efficiency

Intervention in this low-arousal state offers overwhelming efficiency and safe deep-layer processing compared to symptomatic treatments in a hyper-aroused state or therapies that require time dispersion.