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Attachment Styles and Vicarious Trauma

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Handbook of Interpersonal Violence and Abuse Across the Lifespan

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Abstract

The client-therapist relationship, when operating optimally, can be a powerful therapeutic agent and can be reflective of and parallel other relationships in a person’s life. The style of relating, in combination with the methods of intervention used and received, becomes the catalyst toward recovery in survivors of trauma. Within this context, a series of relational transactions may occur that increase the risk the therapist will experience vicarious traumatization or secondary traumatic stress, as traumatic material is discussed and processed. Responses to this indirect exposure to trauma may impact the overall health of the client-therapist relationship, the quality of the treatment encounter, and mental health outcomes for both parties. This chapter will outline the attachment styles of adult survivors and the evidence-based relational variables that contribute to healthy clinical interactions and effective treatment. This information will be used as a framework for how responses to indirect trauma exposure may impact the therapeutic process, the professional, and the individual and organizational strategies that can be used to prevent and counteract these effects.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Professor of Psychiatry, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA

    Ginny Sprang

  2. Center on Trauma and Children, Lexington, KY, USA

    Ginny Sprang

Authors
  1. Ginny Sprang
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Correspondence to Ginny Sprang .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma, Alliant International University, San Diego, CA, USA

    Robert Geffner

  2. School of Health and Human Sciences, University of North Carolina at Greensbo, Greensboro, NC, USA

    Jacquelyn W. White

  3. Dept of Family and Community Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    L. Kevin Hamberger

  4. Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA

    Alan Rosenbaum

  5. Ethelyn R. Strong School of Social Work, Norfolk State University, Norfolk, VA, USA

    Viola Vaughan-Eden

  6. Education and Research, Zero Abuse Project, St. Paul, MN, USA

    Victor I. Vieth

Section Editor information

  1. Consultant and Trainer, Trauma Psychology and Treatment, Bethany Beach, Delaware, USA

    Christine A. Courtois

  2. Department of Counseling and Human Development, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA

    Sylvia A Marotta-Walters PhD

  3. School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

    Carlos A. Cuevas

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Sprang, G. (2021). Attachment Styles and Vicarious Trauma. In: Geffner, R., White, J.W., Hamberger, L.K., Rosenbaum, A., Vaughan-Eden, V., Vieth, V.I. (eds) Handbook of Interpersonal Violence and Abuse Across the Lifespan. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62122-7_285-2

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Attachment Styles and Vicarious Trauma
    Published:
    17 December 2020

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62122-7_285-2

  2. Original

    Relational Styles and Aspects of Treatment: Evidence-Based Relationship Variables and Vicarious Traumatization
    Published:
    07 July 2020

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62122-7_285-1

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