Ep.69/ How Alcoholic Parent(s) Influence the Development of Our Attachment Style
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Multiple factors can influence the development of our attachment style, with alcoholic parents (one or both) being one of them.
Attachment research indicates that attunement lays the groundwork for developing secure attachment, emotional regulation, and healthy relationship patterns.
Attunement means responding with appropriate language and behaviors based on another person's emotional state and needs.
Alcoholic parents are not able to provide proper attunement to their children as they often exhibit emotional unavailability, inconsistency in care, unpredictability, instability, and neglect. These behaviors can significantly shape a child's perception of relationships, trust, and emotional security.
But the problem is that children don’t grow out of these perceptions. They get carried into their adult life, impacting how they relate to themselves, others, and the world at large.
Having this insight is a crucial piece to understanding the roots of your attachment style and how to begin dismantling your learned identity and behaviors.
In this week's podcast episode, I talk about…
-Why attunement is so essential for cultivating a secure attachment style.
-How alcoholic parents influence the development of anxious, dismissive avoidant, and fearful avoidant attachment styles.
-Why we repeat similar self-sabotaging behaviors.
-Why emotional unavailability is the culprit for our attachment insecurities.
