Attachment refers to the specific way someone relates and interacts with others. Attachment styles can influence behaviors and how we "attach" to others. You may wonder where your communication style or reactions originate from and why it may difficult for you to form or maintain relationships. Often times, attachment styles stem from early childhood. This can be rooted in difficulties forming emotional connections to caregivers and may carry through to adulthood.

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These connections affect how a person develops both socially and emotionally. Challenges that may stem from attachment issues include: guilt, trust, abandonment, neglect, avoidance, and feeling unworthy of love. Inter-generational trauma can play a large part in repeated patterns passed down generation to generation. Maybe your primary caregiver(s) withheld affection or validation, dismissed your feelings, made you feel as if love had to be earned, had unpredictable reactions, or made you feel as if you, yourself, or what you accomplished was not good enough. These experiences can cause a person to feel a lack of emotional or physical safety. Your reactions, behaviors, and the way you attach in relationships is correlated to how you coped to gain a sense of safety. 

 

Inner-child healing work consists of processing and recognizing unmet needs, connecting with and affirming your inner-child, finding a sense of safety/security, and helping you to resolve emotional pain you may still be carrying with you in the present.