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How Attachment Styles Influence Relationships: Avoidant

Attachment theory, developed by John Bowlby in the 1950s, gave us a map of how our early relationships shape the way we connect with others later in life. For people with avoidant attachment, early experiences of emotional unavailability can create a defence mechanism that lasts into adulthood (Bowlby, 1988). Avoidant individuals often distance themselves emotionally, […]

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Relationships Can Help Heal Trauma, Under the Right Conditions: A Polyvagal Perspective

Trauma can leave deep emotional scars, often affecting how people connect with others. When the nervous system is dysregulated from past trauma, it becomes challenging to form healthy, secure relationships. However, with the right conditions—like trust, boundaries, and emotional containment—relationships can help heal trauma. The Polyvagal Theory, which explains how our nervous system responds to

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How Attachment Styles Influence Relationships: Anxious Attachment

Attachment theory, introduced by John Bowlby, sheds light on the profound impact that early childhood relationships have on our emotional and psychological development (Bowlby, 1988). Central to this theory is the idea that our earliest connections with our caregivers – usually our mothers – lay the groundwork for how we will relate to others throughout

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The Hidden Presence of Trauma in Our Relationships

Often without knowing it, our trauma, or “baggage,” is present in almost every connection we make. Our unresolved, unfinished business from the times when we felt threatened or overwhelmed stays with us, affecting the way we deal with human connection and relationships. Our baggage can often make connection feel like walking through a storm. Those

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40. How Listening Can Help Us Not React To Our Triggers

In freeing ourselves from a dysregulated nervous system, an important step is learning how to reframe our experiences and manage our triggers, reactions, and baggage. We need to do this so that we are no longer subject to learned ways of behaviour that negatively impact our lives and the relationships we have with others. The

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