The Impact of Trauma
I’m a clinical mental health therapist, and this is what I’ve discovered about the impact of trauma as it relates to attachment theory. If you’re unfamiliar with attachment theory, I will explain its origins and a general outline before — and then, I will follow with my thoughts on the matter. If you have any comments, please feel free to share. For the sake of ease, I did not list my sources but will share upon request.
Attachment is something that is commonly discussed among those interested in their emotional and social development. How do we relate to one another in our personal relationships and in the professional world? As a therapist and as a writer with a particular interest in humanism, this topic is naturally quite fascinating to me.
The origins of attachment theory began with John Bowlby in 1928 and continued with the laboratory experiment called the Strange Situation initiated by Mary Ainsworth in 1970. Both had the aim of learning about attachment as it relates to early childhood development.
John Bowlby studied how a child’s tie to its maternal figure could be disrupted by separation, deprivation, and bereavement and Ainsworth contributed the concept of an attachment figure being a secure base for an infant to explore the world. Later on, studies surrounding adult attachment began to emerge, and in the future, we hope to see more studies about attachment.
But for now, let's just go over the basics of the theory as it exists today.
There are four styles of child/adult attachment. Each style describes how the individual perceives and deals with closeness and emotional intimacy. The attachment style influences the communication of emotions and needs, the way individuals respond to conflict, and the expectations for relationships.
1. Secure — Autonomous individuals are more open to exploring their surroundings and relationships. They are comfortable with intimacy, and not worried about rejection or preoccupied with the relationship. They are low on avoidance and anxiety.
2. Avoidant — Dismissing individuals are uncomfortable with closeness and primarily value independence and freedom. They are not worried about the availability of others. They can seem “carefree” because they are highly avoidant and have low anxiety. They can resist help at times.
3. Anxious — Preoccupied individuals are low on avoidance and high in levels of anxiety. They crave closeness and intimacy, and feel as if they could merge themselves with others, but fear that they will be rejected. They can be insecure about their relationships.
4. Disorganized — Unresolved individuals who have a combination of avoidant, anxious, and secure attachment styles are typically those who have undergone a traumatic experience. Often times they have or had an organized attachment at one point. Patients who have suffered a loss or physical/sexual abuse tend to have a disorganized attachment. It can also be associated with certain personality disorders.
The Complexity of Trauma
Trauma is one of those topics that everyone likes to reference in one way, shape, form, or another, but few actually know how to respond to it when it comes up in a conversation, family or societal systems. As we progress in our social awareness and activism as a species, we become more sensitive to the traumas that others have endured. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is no longer limited to veterans who have returned from war. It is all around us. From marginalized races and sexuality to the ostracism of disabled persons, cultural differences and national barriers. None of us are immune.
Of course, there are a number of different kinds of trauma, and complex trauma which includes exposure to multiple traumas. The commonly known traumas include bullying, community violence, physical and sexual abuse, disaster trauma, intimate partner violence, medical trauma, and complex grief. With each of these traumas comes a set of triggers, symptoms, and behaviors. Oftentimes mood disorders, such as anxiety, depression, or bipolar can have a trauma-related onset. A personality disorder can stem from the negative thinking patterns that trauma may induce.
If trauma disrupts an individual's ability to self-regulate their emotions then of course it will disorganize the way that they attach in their relationships. When looking at an individual with trauma, we also need to consider their starting point: their early childhood development. We need to ask ourselves how early forming deficits of self-structure could lead to later pathology. What causes these sorts of deficits? I don’t think we can pin it all on something as singular as breastfeeding, or helicopter parenting. It is a combination of factors having to do with the climate of the family system, and the system that the family exists within, ie. community.
The therapeutic relationship can aid in combat against the trauma to restore the patient's sense of self, and work to correct any deficits from early childhood, but what can all of us do to better understand and improve our systems for educating and progressing our attitudes towards complex issues such as these?
As someone who has had years of experience working with individuals in the climical and educational setting, I can say with confidence that trauma has a lasting impact on a person's social and emotional development. Children who have experienced trauma and are demonstrating an anxious or preoccupied attachment are more likely to be co-dependent and fixated on relationships.This can lead to future trauma through the debilitating loss when those relationships end or destabilize.There can be an increase in risk-taking behavior to maintain closeness, or an icy ability to sever relationships with ease.
Children who have experienced trauma and are demonstrating an avoidant or dismissive attachment style are more likely to partake in irresponsible drug usage or self-destructive behaviors such as self-harm, abnormal eating patterns, or self-induced social isolation. These sorts of behaviours lead to more difficulties that emerge in adulthood.
The deficiencies that unravel through the traumatic experience are almost entirely related to an inability to self-regulate, if not a defective or impaired regulatory effort. Through a therapeutic relationship, patients can explore the methods/coping skills that they have used to regulate themselves, and evaluate what is working and what is not working in their current approaches. More than likely, through this ongoing process, the attachment style will become more organized, and they can then work towards a state of attachment security. Having assurance in one's relationships is a direct reflection of the individual's ability for self-acceptance.
It is important that we take a holistic approach to attachment theory. The adult who has suffered trauma but has childhood deficits may value corrective treatment for both. If a mood disorder has developed, medication may aid in the initial stabilization process.
The child who has suffered trauma will desperately need a support system to model healthy coping skills that aid in processing and recovery. Therapy is part of this solution, but it is not everything. We all need to do the work individually, as a group, to improve societal systems and spread cultural awareness for these issues. Human issues. Having an awareness of how each aspect of the human condition can work together (or apart), should band us with the responsibility to uplift and empower one another to heal and restore the sense of self within us.