#206: The Attachment Theory & Nervous System Connection with Sarah Baldwin

Attachment Styles

Attachment styles, including anxious, avoidant, and disorganized, shape how we connect with others. Sarah Baldwin explains that these styles are influenced by our early interactions with caregivers and can be reshaped over time. She notes that our nervous systems are adaptable, allowing us to move from states of anxiety or shutdown to more regulated states 1.

Our nervous systems are malleable. Instead of being anxious all the time, we can reshape them to experience regulation more.

--- Sarah Baldwin

Avoidant attachment, for instance, arises from a need for connection clashing with a fear of danger, leading to feelings of loneliness and disconnection 2.

   

Relationships

Attachment styles significantly impact adult relationships, influencing behaviors like ghosting and responses to intimacy. Mark Groves and Sarah discuss how anxious individuals are often labeled as needy, while avoidant individuals are seen as indifferent or narcissistic 3. These labels oversimplify complex emotional responses rooted in past experiences.

When an argument happens, our dorsal vagal complex takes over, and all of a sudden we shut down.

--- Sarah Baldwin

Understanding these dynamics can help us develop compassion for ourselves and others, recognizing that these behaviors are protective mechanisms rather than conscious choices 4.