Is Past Trauma Affecting Your Relationship?

How early parent-child relationships affect adult romantic relationships. Our early experiences with those closest to us shape how we understand the nature of relationships. During these early years, we develop our attachment style. Attachment style influences who we fall in love with, how we behave in romantic relationships, and even how the relationship ends.  As we grow, the level of security that feel in our most important relationships, the tactics that we develop to get our needs met, and the coping strategies that we apply to manage our strongest feelings all strongly affect the attachment style that we develop.1 Secure vs Insecure Attachment Styles If our parents or main caregivers responded to our needs in predictable and supportive ways while we were growing up, we were likely to develop a secure attachment style.2 Secure attachment is the result of our understanding that we were worthy of love and we can depend on those around us for support.  In contrast, if we had unpredictable, emotionally unavailable, or even hostile caregivers, we were likely to develop an insecure attachment style.  Insecure-anxious or Insecure-avoidant Those with an insecure attachment style usually fall into one of two categories: insecure-anxious or insecure-avoidant.  Individuals with an insecure-anxious attachment style tend to need constant reassurance from their partners. They fear abandonment and can have difficulties trusting that they are loved and worthy of love. Insecure-anxio...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Relationships Trauma abuse Attachment Dating Insecurity Intimacy Neglect PTSD Source Type: blogs