The Relationship Between Attachment Styles and Vicarious Traumatization in Female Trauma Therapists

Abstract

This study explores the role of attachment styles in vicarious traumatization in a national sample of 375 female therapists who work with adult outpatient trauma survivors. Participants completed measures of attachment styles and vicarious traumatization. Multiple regression analyses revealed a significant positive relationship between attachment styles and disrupted cognitive schemas as well as a significant positive relationship between attachment styles and symptoms of intrusion, hyperarousal and avoidance in female trauma therapists. The fear-ful-avoidant attachment style was the best predictor of both the cognitive disruptions and symptoms of distress in female trauma therapists. The empirical findings of this study offer important applied clinical implications for female therapists who work with adult trauma survivors.