Attachment Disorders in Women

Attachment disorders develop when early relationships with caregivers were inconsistent, unsafe, or emotionally unavailable. These early experiences shape how we connect, trust, and feel safe in relationships later in life. At Emerge Treatment, we specialize in helping women heal attachment wounds through compassionate, trauma-informed mental health care in Utah.

Attachment disorders are not a personal failure — they are adaptive responses to early experiences. With the right support, healing and a secure connection are possible.

What Are Attachment Disorders?

Attachment disorders refer to patterns of emotional and relational distress that stem from disrupted attachment in childhood. While attachment difficulties are often discussed in children, many adults continue to experience the long-term effects of attachment trauma without realizing it.

In adulthood, attachment disorders may impact relationships, emotional regulation, self-worth, and the ability to feel safe with others.

Attachment disorders can present differently for each person.

Common symptoms may include:

Fear of abandonment or rejection
Difficulty trusting others
Intense relationship anxiety or emotional withdrawal
Trouble setting or maintaining boundaries
Emotional numbness or overwhelm
Patterns of unstable or painful relationships
Strong reactions to perceived criticism or conflict

These symptoms often overlap with anxiety, depression, trauma, or PTSD.

What Causes Attachment Disorders?

Attachment disorders often develop from early experiences such as:

Emotional neglect or inconsistency
Childhood trauma or abuse
Caregiver mental illness or substance use
Loss of a primary caregiver
Chronic stress or instability during development

These experiences shape the nervous system and influence how safety and connection are perceived.

Attachment disorders are often discussed through attachment styles, which describe how individuals relate to others:

Anxious Attachment

Strong fear of abandonment
Seeking reassurance and closeness
Difficulty tolerating emotional distance

Avoidant Attachment

Discomfort with intimacy
Emotional independence to a fault
Avoiding vulnerability or relying on others

Disorganized Attachment

A combination of anxious and avoidant traits
Desire for connection paired with fear of it
Often linked to trauma or abuse

While attachment styles exist on a spectrum, severe or persistent attachment-related distress may benefit from therapeutic support.

Healing attachment wounds requires more than insight alone.

At Emerge Treatment, we offer trauma-informed treatment that focuses on safety, regulation, and relational repair.

Treatment approaches may include:

Trauma-informed individual therapy
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Attachment-focused therapy
Group therapy for relational healing
Somatic and experiential therapies

Our women-centered programs emphasize consistency, trust-building, and emotional safety — key elements for attachment repair.

Depending on symptom severity and support needs, attachment-focused treatment may take place within:

Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP / Day Treatment)

Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)

Individual Outpatient Therapy

Our clinical team works closely with each client to determine the most appropriate level of care.

Learn more about our PHP

Learn more about our IOP

Local expertise: Serving Draper, Salt Lake City, Lehi, and all of Salt Lake and Utah Counties.

Women-only space: Healing feels safer and deeper when you don’t have to filter your words.

Woman-owned and operated: We’ve built a program from the ground up to meet women’s needs — because we’ve been there ourselves.

Decades of combined experience: Our founders, clinicians, and team members bring decades of expertise while maintaining a grounded, personal, and soulful approach to care.

Insurance-friendly: We work with most major insurance plans and offer financial flexibility to make care accessible.

Rediscover Yourself

You don’t have to keep “pushing through” anxiety. Real relief is possible, and you deserve to feel like yourself again — calm, confident, and connected.

Call us today to speak with a member of our team.
Verify your insurance quickly and confidentially.
Begin your personalized healing journey at Emerge Treatment.

“Healing isn’t about changing who you are — it’s about remembering that you’re already whole, and giving your mind and body the tools to feel that truth again.”

Attachment Disorders in Women

What Are Attachment Disorders?

What Causes Attachment Disorders?

Rediscover Yourself

Are you ready to Emerge? Book Your Consultation Today