ABSTRACT
All household items, such as string, bags, could be held onto as possible lifesavers in difficult times to come. Childhood attachment is a pre-requisite to safety. Where the trauma is external but the parent is unable to mediate the experience because of her own traumatized experience or either minimizes or over-reacts, children experience more physiological and emotional anxiety whereas where a parent remains calm and appears in control, the child’s anxiety before and after is lessened. Our understanding of the traumatic consequences of separation has been underlined by the pioneering research of Bowlby. Those who have been chronically traumatized sometimes have internalized a painful dialogue that makes their emotional expression flat and lifeless. They have uttered a sound or communication of great human need and been met with blankness, retaliation or disconfirming.
