attachment styles

Attachment styles are patterns of how people seek closeness, handle distance, and trust others in relationships, shaped by early caregiving. In therapy, they commonly include secure and insecure styles such as anxious-preoccupied, dismissive-avoidant, and fearful-avoidant (often called disorganized).

Rooted in attachment theory, these styles influence emotion regulation, intimacy, boundaries, and responses to conflict across the lifespan. In clinical work, identifying a style clarifies cycles like pursuit and withdrawal, sensitivity to rejection, and coping habits such as clinging, shutting down, or mixed signals.