How to Overcome Fearful Avoidant Attachment in Relationships. Fearful Avoidant Attachment Therapy.

What exactly is fearful avoidant attachment? It is one of the four styles of attachment that is insecurity-driven, people with fearful avoidant attachment crave intimate and personal relationships but struggle to feel worthy of them.

This results in internal conflict and as a result, they tend to retract and withdraw from people out of fear of rejection. Those who have fearful avoidant attachment have trouble trusting others, making it hard to maintain intimate relationships.

How do I find an online specialist in fearful avoidant attachment therapy?

If you have fearful avoidant attachment or are in relationship with someone who has a fearful avoidant attachment style; therapy can help you understand what exactly fearful avoidant attachment is, the triggers. Additionally learn how to overcome and heal from fearful avoidant attachment.

Connecting with an online therapist for fearful avoidant attachment treatment is advised for those who struggle with self-regulating and managing emotional triggers. It can be beneficial to you by teaching you how to identify your triggers and communicate them to your loved ones, family members, or intimate partners.

BetterHelp online therapists for fearful avoidant attachment treatment are highly professional, certified, and skilled in their abilities to guide and support you through your therapy journey.

Get matched with a Betterhelp online specialist in fearful avoidant attachment therapy

Effective, convenient, and affordable online sessions. Start by filling out this survey in its entirety.

get started

BetterHelp online methods of therapy for fearful avoidant attachment in comparison to traditional methods of therapy are far more affordable, convenient, and effective.

Less hassle, no travel time, and no inconvenient session times.

Signing up, getting connected, and being matched with a specialist in fearful avoidant attachment takes less than 5 minutes. Simply fill out this questionnaire carefully and as accurately as you can, this helps us to connect you with the best suited therapists for you to choose from.

What is fearful avoidant attachment?

There are four main types of attachment styles, each of which has its own set of characteristics, causes, and triggers. Fearful avoidant attachment is an attachment style that predominantly stems from a place of insecurity.

People who have a fearful avoidant attachment style are extremely fearful of intimacy and creating new meaningful relationships even though they feel a deep desire for it. Fearful avoidant attachment is a combination of preoccupied avoidant attachment and dismissive avoidant attachment. It causes you to deeply believe that you are unable to be loved because of your challenges or shortcomings.

Therapy for fearful avoidant attachment can help you more clearly understand your feelings and emotions when you experience triggers that cause reactions. For someone who has avoidant attachment in a relationship, it has been found that this particular style of attachment can cause friction and unwanted animosity, and damage to both people.

It’s important to note that understanding what causes your fearful avoidant attachment to develop methods of self-regulating when you are triggered.

What causes fearful avoidant attachment?

Very similarly to the other three attachment styles, fearful avoidant attachment starts to develop as early as your infant stages or childhood.

The reason behind this is a result of experiencing different forms of emotional or physical absence or inconsistencies from primary caretakers and parents in your household. Many children experience both overt and covert abuse during the impressionable years of their life, and consequently, the brain starts to develop negative coping mechanisms which develop and complicate into various challenges, such as PTSD, multiple personality disorder, anxiety, and even depression.

In cases of fearful avoidant attachment, the root cause stems from a deep place of insecurity which has manifested and become a way of “protecting yourself”.

This is a natural response to any previously experienced unpleasant events or trauma from earlier years. Uncovering and understanding what causes fearful avoidant attachment can be a challenge to face on your own, see highly encourage working through it with a professional therapist for fearful avoidant attachment treatment.

What are the fearful avoidant attachment signs?

Those who have a fearful avoidant attachment style in relationships tend to prefer keeping things casual and in their control.

They might also lean toward having casual sexual partners because it requires less emotion and does not leave them feeling vulnerable and exposed. When in a relationship, fearful avoidant attachment can cause unstable, and highly emotional connections, they fear being abandoned and prefer to be alone because it helps them to avoid the risk of being trapped in a relationship.

Fearful avoidant attachment style causes unpredictable behavior. As much as they yearn for long-lasting and meaningful connections, they are controlled and governed by fear, insecurity, and self-doubt. Leaving them to battle positive and negative emotions at the same time.

What does this mean for fearful avoidant attachment styles in a relationship?

It requires hard work and patience. With the guidance and support of a specialist in fearful avoidant attachment and relationship, navigating and managing your deactivating strategies will be easier.

What your fearful avoidant attachment signs can look like:

Having an overwhelming fear of your partner leaving or abandoning you
Highly emotional and intense relationships
Often finding any faults in a partner that could give you a reason to leave
Experiencing extreme contrasting emotions of really wanting the relationship and being alone
Constantly resisting intimacy and vulnerability
Having a fear of being inferior or “not enough” for your partner
Withdrawing from the relationship as soon as it becomes too emotional or too close for comfort

How to overcome fearful avoidant attachment style.

Overcoming fearful avoidant attachment is going to require you to do a lot of introspection and unpacking your past to help you better understand what causes your fearful avoidant attachment.

Taking the next step.

Seek guidance and advice from a professional therapist for fearful avoidant attachment treatment that is trained to give you the most effective ways of healing fearful avoidant attachment. Once you and your therapist have pinpointed the root cause of the fearful avoidant attachment, you can work towards creating methods of self-regulating and coping that work best for you.

This will not only benefit you but also help you to maintain healthy relationships with loved ones.

These are a few steps you can try when starting your journey of healing from fearful avoidant attachment:

Practice and encourage small amounts of openness.
Write down positive things about yourself and say them out loud every day.
Try to talk more positively about yourself and to yourself.
Practice mirror work – reaffirm your love of yourself to yourself in the mirror.
Visualization meditation – when meditating, imagine yourself as a younger you doing your favorite things that made you feel happy and safe.
Learn to become your biggest fan and motivation coach.

These methods will help you to slowly rebuild your self-esteem and confidence. You will grow to be stronger, mentally and emotionally. You will learn how to love and accept yourself more and over time you will reach a point where you can express yourself despite having a fearful avoidant attachment.

Please note that these are merely the starting point of practicing methods that can help you self-regulate and manage fearful avoidant attachment. We strongly recommend reaching out to a therapist to refine your healing journey to overcome fearful avoidant attachment.

What is dismissive avoidant attachment?

Attachment styles are based on how we as human beings interact and connect, every individual has their methods of building and maintaining platonic, intimate, and family relationships.

Dismissive avoidant attachment is characterized by; avoiding emotional connections, romantic relationships, and attachment to people.

Someone that has a dismissive avoidant attachment style tends to avoid pursuing romantic relationships or becoming too emotionally attached to anyone out of fear of them or being rejected and abandoned. This, more often than not, causes challenges with intimacy, trust, self-confidence, and self-love.

The main characteristic of the dismissive avoidant attachment style is taking independence to the extreme where they will avoid relying on anyone to ask for help even in dire times of need. This feels safer for them as they don’t want to be at risk of developing any form of attachment to anyone and being vulnerable.

Dating dismissive avoidant attachment

Identifying the signs or signals of dismissive avoidant attachment can look very different for each person. Most people with dismissive avoidant attachment come access as distant, cold, standoffish, and sometimes even rude.

They are extremely reserved and withdrawn, being overly cautious and conscious of who they allow into their space and the information they share.

Someone with dismissive avoidant attachment in a relationship may present themselves as rigid and set very strong boundaries with their partner to ensure that they never get too close.

Maintaining independence and secrecy is a crucial part of feeling safe with someone who has a dismissive avoidant attachment style.

These are some of the signals of dismissive avoidant attachment:

They prefer short and casual relationships
Extreme need or desire for independence
They are highly self-sufficient and do not rely on anyone for anything
Often they can come across as being narcissistic
Intentionally not prioritizing relationships
Deliberately aggravating their partner to make sure they don’t get too close
An obsession or paranoia about being controlled

Although those with a dismissive avoidant attachment style may seem as though they have it all together and that they are high functioning. They remain extremely closed off and alone despite their fear of emotional connections.

Many people with dismissive avoidant attachment struggle with very low self-esteem and view themselves in a negative light. They are incredibly self-critical and do not see themselves as worthy or deserving of the love, connections, and affection they need.

How to Improve Dismissive Avoidant Attachment in Relationships?

Dating someone that has a dismissive avoidant attachment style is extremely challenging. It requires patience, understanding, unconditional love, and support.

The first step to navigating a relationship with someone who has a dismissive avoidant attachment style is to help them understand their attachment style for the both of you to work towards developing healthy methods of coping and dealing with it.

Another suggestion from professional dismissive avoidant attachment specialists is to identify the type of attachment style that you have, sharing this information with your partner can reduce the fear of being vulnerable.

These are things that dismissive avoidant attachment specialists suggest for those dating a dismissive avoidant:

Avoid any ultimatum at all costs.

If the relationship that you have is a long-term one, it would be best not to give your partner who has dismissive avoidant attachment any ultimatum.

Saying things like, ‘if you don’t change, this is over!’, will make matters worse and possibly cause them to completely disengage and disconnect from you. It could also lead to a breakup.

Discussion objectives work better than personal opinions.

Someone with dismissive avoidant attachment is already highly sensitive and self-critical. When criticized by a partner, they will internalize all emotions and shut down completely.

Avoid saying things that may trigger them during disagreements such as, ‘it’s clear that my needs don’t matter to you, I don’t matter to you.’.

Consider all factors before making decisions.

It’s important to consider everything holistically when determining whether to stay with the person or not.

Someone with dismissive avoidant attachment can change over time with professional help and consistent effort.

Look at the relationship beyond their shortcomings caused by their dismissive avoidant attachment.

Although dating someone with a dismissive avoidant attachment style may be challenging. Every relationship has its pros and cons to consider, and working through them will only bring you closer and build a stronger bond and foundation for the relationship.

Seek professional help from a dismissive avoidant attachment specialist to offer you guidance, knowledge, and support through treatment and therapy.

What is disorganized attachment?

A disorganized attachment style is formed during childhood as a response to a caregiver or parent incorrectly or inconsistent responding to a child’s emotional needs.

This causes high-stress levels, anxiety, and uncertainty, leaving the child yearning for attention but responding frightfully when they receive it.

Disorganized attachment in adults creates a fear of attachment. Whilst they may come across as dismissive or cold they deeply crave connections, intimacy, and attention. Adults with disorganized attachment usually feel an impulse to isolate and detach from people who get “too close”. They generally have a lack of understanding of a secure and healthy structure when it comes to relationships.

They have a conflicting toxic cycle of insecure and anxious attachment that is caused by the lack of understanding of a healthy functioning relationship.

Out of fear of abandonment, adults with disorganized attachment styles have developed self-protection methods that become barriers between themselves and a potential connection or relationship.

What are the signs of disorganized attachment?

The signs of disorganized attachment can look different depending on individual characteristics and personality traits. Signs of disorganized attachment can be influenced by experiences and possible trauma that they may have been exposed to during childhood.

Adults with disorganized attachment tend to have an inconsistent way of engaging or connecting with others.

They have a conflicting dynamic of interaction. Meaning that they desire to be in a committed and loving relationship, but unfortunately have deeply rooted fears and insecurities of abandonment from childhood.

How to identify the signs of disorganized attachment in adults.

Lack of or poor emotional understanding and regulation
Contrasting behavior, deeply desiring closeness and intimacy but implementing a distance
Anxious and overly fearful of others’ intentions
Deep fear of abandonment
Expecting and anticipating rejection
Inconsistencies in relationships
Unable to be emotionally available or open
Low self-esteem and negative self-image
Forming negative detachment methods

The effects of disorganized attachment can impact adulthood negatively if not dealt with by a professional attachment therapist. Adults with a disorganized attachment style find themselves feeling isolated, alone, and fearful.

Consequently causing severe anxiety, depression and health challenges. It is possible to manage and overcome disorganized attachment and learn to develop healthier ways of connecting with others.

What are the effects of disorganized attachment?

The effects of disorganized attachment in adults can complicate and lead to psychological challenges, and relational challenges. In some cases if disorganized attachment in adults not dealt with by a professional attachment therapist, the effects can become generational and passed on to future offspring.

The most notable effect of disorganized attachment in adults is the negative impact on relationships that are formed during adulthood.

Someone with disorganized attachment avoids establishing personal relationships despite their true desires, as a result of disorganized attachment can be perceived as cold, aloof, and unconcerned. This inevitably creates challenges and painful experiences in relationships that demand intimate and emotional connections. These conflicting feelings develop into establishing toxic attachment styles and strategies.

Effects of disorganized attachment to note:

Risk of developing dissociative disorders
High-risk or self-destructive behavior
Higher risk of developing substance dependency
Psychological challenges; depression, anxiety, PTSD, CPTSD
Low self-esteem, lack of confidence, and negative or distorted self-image
Intrusive thoughts
Lack of trust
Inability to express emotions, thoughts, or feelings
Unstable work life or career
Anti-social, lack of remorse or empathy
Inability to self-regulate emotions
Prone to withdrawn behavior from a romantic partner

It’s important to remember that it is possible to overcome and change negative attachment styles. Attachment therapists have successfully helped adults with disorganized attachment move from one attachment style to a healthier and more effective attachment style.

Healing from disorganized attachment is not an overnight process and neither is it easy. The healing journey holistically requires a deep dive into your life experiences that have shaped the way you’ve developed your attachment style.

How to heal from disorganized attachment

Contrary to popular belief.

It is very possible to heal from negative attachment styles and develop healthier and more effective attachment styles. Disorganized attachment can be healed. With close guidance, support, and advice from an attachment therapist, you will be able to overcome and heal from negative attachment strategies or coping mechanisms that you may have consequently developed.

It is always advised to seek professional help when dealing with or healing from an attachment style. In addition to professional help, you can be proactive and try these methods of healing from disorganized attachment.

Identify feelings, emotions, and triggers.
Develop methods of self-regulation or self-soothing.
Identify what you need most when you’re feeling anxious, on edge, and triggered.
Communicate effectively.

A disorganized attachment style can leave you feeling constantly overwhelmed and drained by emotions. When these emotions are triggered in a relationship or a developing connection, it can be increasingly difficult to be close to your partner and creates isolation, frustration, and separation.

It’s important to allow yourself to heal and overcome the negative effects and strategies of disorganized attachment. This will help you alleviate your anxiety, fear, and doubts. It will also help you build trust between yourself and future partners.

How does online fearful avoidant attachment therapy and dismissive avoidant attachment treatment work?

BetterHelp online fearful avoidant attachment therapy gives you the freedom of planning and scheduling your sessions as and when you wish.

You can message to your chosen therapist at anytime, so in cases of an emergency, they will be there to reply to you as soon as possible.

Affordable, convenient, and effective professional therapy from the safety and comfort of your home.

Conduct therapy your way, whether it’s via video call, phone call, email, or even live chatting. You remain in control.

How will Online fearful avoidant attachment therapy and dismissive avoidant attachment treatment benefit me?

Dealing with fearful avoidant attachment can cause severe anxiety and stress which can negatively impact your mental health and overall well-being.

Sharing the burden of conflicting emotions and thoughts with a therapist can make it less overwhelming and easier to manage. Having the support and guidance of fearful avoidant attachment therapy will also help you maintain and develop healthy and loving relationships.

Fearful avoidant attachment therapy allows you to let go of doubts, fear, and insecurities that may be holding you back from living the healed life you deserve.