In this workshop I would like to broaden the view on attachment trauma and highlight the importance of acknowledging EAT as a hidden epidemic.
Based on my clinical experience I have noticed that the significance of early attachmenttrauma in the development of anxiety symptoms becomes more and more apparent.
As literature suggests, the quality of the attachment relationship affects the development ofa secure attachment bond. I hypothesize that the diminished quality of the attachment relationship underlies the development of anxiety symptoms.
Theavailability, responsiveness, mentalizationabilities, etc. of the parent create a secure base from which the child can explore and develop.
The absence of those features in the child-parent relationship causes traumatic stress within the child and impacts its psychological and neurological well-being.
Insecure attachment influences the neurobiology and results in dissociative processes (hyper-and hypo-arousal) expressed through different types of anxiety disorders.
Derivingfrom neurobiology, there is a clear link between anxiety, depression and aggression.
The internal working model stems from insecure attachment and influences the child’s capability to regulate and causes adverse behavior.
From an intergenerational point of view, insecure attachment style in parents causes the absence of affect and stress regulation capabilities in children and leaves them with the inability to regulate their anxiety.
Treatment strategies combine neurobiological, attachment and trauma insights and include body oriented therapy, affect and stressregulation strategies, restructuring the internal working model, the therapeutic relationship, etc.
