Articles - Attachment Theory

Showing only articles tagged with
Attachment Theory
< Back to all articles

Tips on Creating a Safe Space for Imaginal Work

  • Post author:
  • Post published:August 19, 2021
  • Reading time:7 mins read
  • Healing Modalities:
    Attachment Theory
    Schema Therapy

These tips on creating a safe space for practice were originally shared by a long-term Attachment Repair student in our Slack community.

 

I wanted to share my process and tips for building an imaginal safe space. I use this space as a foundation for all my attachment/schema work. Basically, that’s where I prepare for the ‘main’ work, and it’s a container and location for imagery. I also use it to hunker down when I feel anxious or overwhelmed, and sometimes to help me fall asleep.

Continue ReadingTips on Creating a Safe Space for Imaginal Work

The Schema Modes as They Relate to Attachment Styles

  • Post author:
  • Post published:August 16, 2021
  • Reading time:7 mins read
  • Healing Modalities:
    Attachment Theory
    Schema Therapy

Disclaimer: These are my personal opinions. In this, I am drawing from Jeffrey Young’s work on schema therapy, and attachment theory more generally.

I believe that the attachment styles can be viewed as clusters of schemas and modes; schemas  being beliefs about self and world, and the necessary behaviors (modes) that result from those beliefs. The modes represent the coherent behavioral manifestations of the schemas.

Insecure attachment is associated with impaired emotional self-regulation. The coping modes are those emotional regulation strategies that avoid “an even greater suffering”, as Bruce Ecker says.

Continue ReadingThe Schema Modes as They Relate to Attachment Styles

Schemas as they relate to Attachment Styles

  • Post author:
  • Post published:July 23, 2021
  • Reading time:1 mins read
  • Healing Modalities:
    Attachment Theory
    Schema Therapy

This list is based on my perspective as to how Jeffrey Young’s ‘Early Maladaptive Schemas’ relate to insecure attachment. More info on the 18 schemas here: http://www.schematherapy.com/id73.htm

 

General Insecurity

11 – Insufficient Self-Control / Self-Discipline

 

Dismissing

3 – Emotional Deprivation (central)
4 – Defectiveness / Shame (central)
5 – Social Isolation / Alienation
10 – Entitlement / Grandiosity
17 – Unrelenting Standards / Hypercriticalness
18 – Punitiveness

 

Preoccupied

1 – Abandonment / Instability (central)
3 – Emotional Deprivation
6 – Dependence / Incompetence
7 – Vulnerability to Harm or Illness
8 – Enmeshment / Undeveloped Self
9 – Failure to Achieve
12 – Subjugation
13 – Self-Sacrifice
14 – Approval-Seeking / Recognition-Seeking
15 – Negativity / Pessimism

 

Disorganized

1 – Abandonment / Instability
2 – Mistrust / Abuse (central) (additionally: fear and manipulation)
3 – Emotional Deprivation
4 – Defectiveness / Shame
5 – Social Isolation / Alienation
6 – Dependence / Incompetence
7 – Vulnerability to Harm or Illness
8 – Enmeshment / Undeveloped Self
9 – Failure to Achieve
10 – Entitlement / Grandiosity
12 – Subjugation
13 – Self-Sacrifice
14 – Approval-Seeking / Recognition-Seeking
15 – Negativity / Pessimism
17 – Unrelenting Standards / Hypercriticalness
18 – Punitiveness

 

Continue ReadingSchemas as they relate to Attachment Styles

Can you change your attachment style and if so how?

  • Post author:
  • Post published:June 27, 2021
  • Reading time:4 mins read
  • Healing Modality:
    Attachment Theory

Yes, you can. But, there are many important considerations to keep in mind.

Attachment conditioning dictates much of how we behave in relationships, view ourselves, how well we explore our world, and how good we are at emotional self regulation (Brown et al., 2016). This conditioning is largely determined very early on between the ages of six and twenty-four months (and to a lesser degree up to three years). The conditioning that takes place at this time occurs at the procedural or implicit level, which is pre-verbal.

Continue ReadingCan you change your attachment style and if so how?