Doris D Hooghe
EMDR Practitioner, Belgium
Title: Early attachment trauma and the impact on child’s development
Biography
Biography: Doris D Hooghe
Abstract
It is important to broaden our vision on attachment trauma, by pointing out the importance of the quality of parenting as an indicator to develop a secure attachment relationship. This quality mainly depends on the caregivers’ ability to mentalize, regulate, contain, play, and so on. The absence of these features causes traumatic stress in the child and impacts his psychological and neurological development and the possibility to attach. Thus, it is important that we are aware of the relationship between early attachment trauma (EAT) and affect dysregulation and dissociation. The seriousness depends on the early age of the child, an immature coping mechanism, the child’s different experience of danger, the stress level of adverse experiences and the caregiver as the source of trauma. We can consider dissociation and affect dysregulation as complex adaptation to trauma. In addition, when the child is not able to manage distress, it lacks the capability to integrate the experiences. Dissociation and inadequate self-regulation interfere with one another and impact the development of the sense of self. By raising awareness amongst caregivers and clinicians about EAT and the severe consequences, new therapeutic opportunities could be developed.