Addiction as an Attachment Disorder: Attachment Gone Wrong with Sarah Pennock

Addiction as an Attachment Disorder: Attachment Gone Wrong with Sarah Pennock

• Are you interested in re-visiting Attachment Theory, with a particular focus on insecure attachment?
• Do you want to increase your understanding of how substance abuse can be seen as a manifestation of insecure attachment in the addicted client?
• Would you like to consider how your own attachment style manifests within your clinical material?

Attachment is defined as the lifelong need human beings have for affectionate ties with significant other human beings. It is a biological necessity for us to have a secure attachment relationship. Although much of the research on attachment has focused on infants and children, attachment theory is also applicable to adults in a psychodynamic framework, as 75% of attachment patterns remain stable through to adulthood.

The impact of childhood events often casts a deep shadow over us in adult life. Understanding Attachment Theory can serve as a solid foundation for understanding the development of ineffective coping strategies, and the underlying dynamics of a client’s emotional difficulties.

This workshop will consider the aetiology of a person’s addiction as resulting initially from a place of disrupted attachment relationships.