627 ENGLISH SUMMARY just like birds or termites. It is a variation of three variables: a) a person is capable of initiating contact with another; b) a person can initiate disconnection and distinguishing oneself from others; c) a person is capable of following another. These variables are inherently relational and can be described in terms of movement. We consider them as the ‘underground root system’ to subsequently allow new behaviour to emerge ‘above ground’. Developing reciprocity occurs in the ‘roots’. This becomes visible when a person can utilise all three variables. What becomes visible ‘above ground’ is new behaviour in areas such as collaboration, play, empathy, learning, and so on. Note that therapists are not responsible for creating this complex behaviour. The client is capable of self-organization, enabling new behaviour to emerge from simple basic rules. Therapists will need to provide the basic rules through which more complex forms of behaviour can naturally arise. Relational Developmental Perspective Naturally does not mean that no engine is needed to start moving. The pulling force is the three basic needs. But what is the mechanism that sets things in motion? To understand this, we will revisit the concept of relationship, but now from the perspective that a relationship is necessary for survival, growth, and development. In his research from the World Health Organization, Bowlby (1952) visited orphanages where children stayed after World War II. Although the children were provided with food and shelter, the absence of motherly love meant that they lacked proximity and warmth, leading to some children withering away or developing behavioural problems. This research revealed that security, comfort, and protection are fundamental to survival. Around the same time, Konrad Lorenz (1950) discovered that goslings follow the first moving object after they hatch, regardless of whether this object is the mother goose or Konrad Lorenz’s boots. The goslings do not need to follow the mother to find food because they are able to do that independently. However, the following behaviour is necessary for their survival and protection. Bowlby incorporated the search for protection and safety within the framework of attachment theory. This idea has been elaborated in a model in which a child seeks a balance between exploring and seeking safety with the parent. The movement away from the parent (exploring) and towards the parent (safety) is a movement of taking initiative and following. Thanks to Daniel Stern, we can take it a step further. In his book “The interpersonal world of the infant” (1985/2000), he illustrates the interconnectedness of the parent and the baby in the development of ‘Self’. This interconnectedness twining is fully based on mutual movements, following behaviour, and taking initiative. He refines the balance between exploration and seeking safety as a balance between the development of ‘Self’ and the development of ‘Self-with-others’. Stern shows that being attuned to the movements of the environment is not exclusive to the world of geese or animals, human babies are also focused on movements in the environment. The movement of the parent elicits the movement to follow: what is the parent looking at? The reverse A
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