The role of attachment in trauma

• Call for questions and comments....... by Jessica Boitman, 10/14/98
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    • CMT and Trauma by Jim Duffy, 11/21/98
      
      

Thanks, Jim, for your reference to my 1991 article, and thanks, Jessica, for alerting me to the reference. I'm interested in this discussion since about 1/3 of my practice for more than 10 years has been in individual psychotherapy with adult survivors of childhood trauma (usually severe, multiple, chronic). I've had to limit to 1/3 of my practice for my own mental health! One of the questions that has become particularly relevant to me during the last 5 years or so has been the role of attachment in adaptation to & recovery from trauma. At the risk of being sacreligious in this particular discussion, I have been stumped in a number of cases to explain the persistence and intensity of adult patients' bonds to past or present abusive persons solely in terms of pathogenic beliefs or even adaptations. I have been struck with the power of early attachment patterns in which violence is inextricably bound with "love" or in which extreme sacrifice of self-experience or self-needs (self-object needs in the language of self psychology) was required in order to maintain any connection with other human beings. I have been humbled at the seeming insignificance or at least minimal impact of my efforts at "health" or growth-promoting connection with these same patients. Despite these sometimes discouraging experiences, I continue to stay involved with these patients, with extremely slow progress. I guess the upshot of my comments is that it seems to take much more time and lived experience to counteract early abuse than I thought when I was an early optimist in the field. I'm interested in comments from others with similar or different experiences.

• Difficult Work by Jim Duffy, 12/4/98