The Need For Attachment: Oxytocin And The Social Connection System
Attachment and its implications for development and emotional regulation have always been fascinating to me. Therefore, it seems essential to me to learn about how this basic psychological phenomenon affects our lives and development.
Several years ago I was lucky enough to meet Sue Carter and Stephen Porges at a neurofeedback conference in Venice. Sue is one of the first researchers in the field of oxytocin and Stephen, on the other hand, is the creator of the polyvagal theory, a theory that develops and explains how the activation of the social connection system makes us feel physiologically calm, safe and connected. socially.
I took with me the visions and contributions of both as a treasure that has helped me organize and understand attachment, security, and the mind-body interrelation.
This body/mind interaction is observed from the beginning of pregnancy organizing both biology and psychology to provide the most appropriate environment where the fetus and then the future baby develop.
From the beginning of pregnancy, oxytocin, the hormone of love, bonding, or also called the shy hormone, will be secreted (because it requires security to manifest itself, as well as the motivation to get involved socially).
Oxytocin, among other functions, prepares the mother’s brain to get involved and fall in love with the future baby. These oxytocin levels will reach their highest levels in the hours following birth and during breastfeeding. The mere presence of a baby leads us to secrete oxytocin, promoting that state of calm, where time stops and we look for the baby’s gaze and delight in it.
In those looks, in those words intoned like caresses, in that gestural involvement we become socially involved with the baby, and so on. the dance of attachment is encouraged, which favors emotional regulation. The breathing and the heart calm down, the smiles illuminate the faces and we enter the space of coherence between baby and mother or father or caregiver, where time dilates and the mutual delight is simply enjoyed.
The therapeutic implications of this process
This very mammalian and human characteristic of the tendency to establish deep emotional connections from birth is what has been missing in early trauma or traumatic development.
As a therapist who seeks to repair attachment, among my objectives are to promote these states to activate the social connection system and promote behaviors that generate oxytocin, so that both processes help us get closer to that connection, and above all to facilitate perception of security so that all of the above is viable.
To learn more…
On May 8 and 9, 2020, Sue Carter and Stephen Porges will give a seminar in Sitges, focused on the topic of how oxytocin and polyvagal theory reflect processes for understanding connection, security, and social bonding. It is an opportunity to listen to them directly and learn from them. Understanding the neurobiology of attachment and bonding becomes a therapeutic advantage.
If you are interested in knowing more about the seminar, contact the Cuatro Ciclos Institute, the organizing entity of this event.
Author: Cristina Cortés, specialist in trauma and attachment and director of Vitaliza.
