Page 2 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 15

Editorial

Editorial

Instead of basic trust, empirical research today speaks of secure bonding – a spe-
cial relationship between child and mother, father or carer.
Secure bonding is a necessary dependence for the child and is created by God;
from this the child can develop security and trust.
If the child feels secure in this bonding, it then dares to go further and investigate
its surroundings.

How does this secure bonding arise?
Studies show that the secure bonding develops with a carer who stands out be-
cause of availability and sensitivity.
Sensitivity shows itself in noticing the child’s signals either at all or else in time,
understanding them correctly and being ready to react to them promptly and
appropriately. intermay@gmx.net
And God reveals himself as being „most highly sensitive“!
„...For your Father knows what you need before you ask him.“ (Mt. 6,8b)

God’s constant, available presence gives us, too, the experience of protection,
safety and provision.
“And call upon me in the day of need: I will deliver you...“ (Ps. 50,15)
“Yet the Lord says: can a mother forget her sucking child? Does she not have
compassion on the child that she has borne? Yet, even if they could forget, I will
not forget you!“ (Is .49,15)
Years ago, I used to counsel foster and adoptive families. I remember a study
from this period: 80% of the mothers who had given up a child remember the
child daily. And the other 20% too, only not daily.
Finally, God says: If in fact a mother is unable to forget a child, how then can I
forget you?
For us, as for children, it is important to draw on two sources for basic trust: God,
as the one who “secures” us, and persons who are sympathetic and available.

In the first part of this edition of Christian Psychology Around the World, the
attribution theory will be presented and discussed under various aspects.
In the second part, some friends and colleagues trace their personal places of
trust.
Yours, Werner May, emcapp.eu

Why do we have a bilingual journal?
In our movement for Christian Psychology, we meet as Christians with very different backgrounds: different churches,
different cul-tures, different professional trainings…
There is a common desire for the movement, but highly “multi-lingual” ideas of its realization! Therefore, a bilingual
journal is just a small reference to our multilingual voices to remind us:
• Languages are an expression of cultures, countries and of their people. By writing in two languages, we want to show
our respect to the authors of the articles, to their origin and heritage, and at the same time symbolically show respect
to all the readers in other foreign countries.
• There are many foreign languages that we do not understand. Within our own language, we intend to understand
one another, but we fail to do so quite often. To really understand one another is a great challenge, and we also want
to point to this challenge by offering a bilingual journal.
• “When languages die, knowledge about life gets lost.” (Suzanne Romaine, 2011)
• Finally, there is a pragmatic reason: As we want to have authors from one special country to write the main articles
of every journal, it will be easier for them to distribute the journal in their own country, when it also is in their own
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language.