According to attachment theory created by John Bowlby, attachment patterns are formed during early experiences with caregivers and maintained by later interpersonal relationships in adulthood. Over time, attachment patterns become internalized and shape how individuals see themselves and others in close relationships, influencing how individuals perceive and cope with stress.

Attachments are critical to a person’s life because they help develop social skills and create a foundation for who the individual is. People may have different attachment styles resulting from events in the early stages of development that have affected them; trauma can affect the attachment style a person develops.

Through trauma-informed care and therapies, a person can explore and identify the four attachment styles to help themselves move forward and heal.

Secure Attachment

Secure attachment is the level of attachment that everyone should strive for. This attachment style stems from children having a loving connection with their caregiver, which translates to them applying this interaction to form healthy relationships. This attachment style does not lead to fear of abandonment and makes people unafraid to connect with others.

However, not everyone can be raised in a loving and caring environment. Luckily, this level of attachment can be taught to help individuals form meaningful relationships and measure an appropriate level of dependence.

Signs someone may have a secure attachment include:

• Comfortable in a warm, loving, and emotionally close relationship
• Depends on others and allows others to depend on them
• Accepts the need to spend time apart without feeling rejected or threatened
• Trusting, empathic, tolerant of differences, and forgiving
• Communicates emotions and needs honestly and openly

Avoidant Attachment

Avoidant attachment style often stems from children being raised with the idea that their emotional needs are challenging to be satisfied. This belief becomes the basis for individuals closing themselves off from people due to the false impression that they can never be loved.

As a result of these false beliefs, these individuals often have an extremely hard time connecting with others on an intimate level. They may have a challenging time constructing relationships.

Individuals with this attachment style often avoid relationships due to a lack of trust, choosing not to create them. They may struggle with their social skills and find it challenging to engage with others.

Signs someone may struggle with an avoidant attachment style include:

• Emotionally distant and rejecting in relationships
• Equates intimacy with a loss of independence
• Not able to depend on others or allow others to “lean on” them; independence is a priority
• Communication is intellectual. Not comfortable talking about emotions

Anxious Attachment

Adults with anxious attachment might think highly of others but often suffer from low self-esteem. These individuals are sensitive and attuned to their partners’ needs but are often insecure and anxious about their own worth in a relationship.

If a loved one rejects them or fails to respond to their needs, they might blame themselves or label themselves as unworthy of love.

The intense fear of abandonment might often cause individuals with this attachment style to be jealous or suspicious of their partners. This fear might also make them desperate, clingy, and preoccupied with their relationships.

Adults with an anxious attachment style are often afraid of or even incapable of being alone.

Signs an individual may have an anxious attachment style include:

• Insecure in intimate relationships
• Ruminates about unresolved past issues from family-of-origin, which intrudes into present perceptions and relationships
• Overly sensitive to partner’s actions and moods
• Communication is not collaborative

Anxious-Avoidant Attachment

Individuals with anxious-avoidant attachment are often afraid of intimacy and commitment. They may distrust and lash out emotionally at anyone who tries to get close to them.

Individuals with this attachment style often spend much of their time alone or in abusive or dysfunctional relationships.

These individuals often experience low self-confidence and are less likely to express emotions, preferring to suppress them. However, they can have intense emotional outbursts when under stress. They also tend not to seek help due to distrusting others.

Signs someone may have an anxious-avoidant attachment style include:

• Cannot tolerate emotional closeness in a relationship
• Argumentative, rageful, unable to regulate emotions
• Abusive and dysfunctional relationships recreate past patterns
• Intrusive and frightening traumatic memories and triggers

Attachment Styles and the Role of Trauma 

Inconsistent or unavailable caregivers disrupt children’s formation of secure attachments and promote reliance on ineffective emotion regulation strategies, leading to insecure attachment styles.

Traumatic events in early life, such as caregiver mistreatment, can disrupt the formation of secure attachment. Insecure attachment may increase among individuals with severe trauma histories and disrupt developmental processes.

Insecure parental attachment may lead to negative consequences, including increased levels of stress hormones, negative views of themselves and others, and poor regulation of emotion and behavior. The caregiver’s failure to provide sufficient safety and protection may also lead to problems in cognition, attention, learning, systems of meaning, and relationships.

Sabino Recovery Can Help Those with Living with Attachment Issues

All people form an attachment style. Trauma can play a significant role in the attachment style an individual develops in childhood and adulthood. These attachment styles impact relationships with self and others once an individual is an adult. Trauma can be healed, and individuals can learn to form secure attachments. Through trauma-informed care and trauma-specific therapeutic modalities, individuals can find healing.

At Sabino Recovery, we help our residents heal from trauma-induced symptoms, including addiction and mental health disorders. Our healing environment is shaped by the professionalism and caring of our staff and sustained by our dedication to providing the best course of treatment for each individual resident. We are passionate about delivering evidence-based treatment modalities with sound efficacy.

Our focus on trauma as a root cause of many unhealthy thinking and behavior patterns sets us apart. For more information on our program, call Sabino Recovery today at (844) 227-7014.