
Trauma Bonding
The Traumatic Bond: Understand It, Break Free
By Gildas Garrec · 230 pages · 2026
Available format
About this book
Le trauma bonding (lien traumatique) : neurobiologie de l'attachement à un agresseur, cycle abus-réconciliation, protocole de désengagement et reconstruction post-emprise.
You know this relationship is destroying you — your loved ones have told you so, maybe your therapist too — and yet you stay, or you leave and come back, again and again? This isn't weakness: it's a documented neurobiological phenomenon that clinical psychology calls trauma bonding. This clinical guide explores, across eight chapters, the neurobiological mechanisms behind this bond, the cycle of intermittent violence that alternates cruelty and tenderness to create dependency, and the psychological traps that keep you trapped — cognitive dissonance, Stockholm syndrome, irrational hope. Grounded in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), attachment theory, and Jeffrey Young's early schemas, it offers a concrete self-assessment grid for recognizing trauma bonding in your own relationship, followed by a CBT detachment protocol and reconstruction strategies to turn understanding into action. You're not stupid: your brain is trapped in a mechanism as old as humanity itself — and one you can free yourself from.
Table of contents
- 1The complete clinical guide to recognizing, understanding, and breaking toxic attachment
- 2Help Resources
- 3Domestic abuse
- 4Crisis resources
- 5A Clinical Definition
- 6What Trauma Bonding Is Not
- 7The Origins: From Stockholm Syndrome to Trauma Bonding
- 8The Seven Components of Trauma Bonding According to Carnes
- 9Trauma Bonding in Different Relational Contexts
- 10The Cultural Dimension of Trauma Bonding
- 11Your Brain Under the Spell
- 12The Hijacked Reward System
- 13The Stress Axis: Cortisol and Adrenaline
- 14Trapped Oxytocin
- 15Endorphins and the Pain-Pleasure Connection
- 16Traumatic Memory and Emotional Flashbacks
- 17The Brain That Betrays: Why Intelligence Doesn't Protect
- 18Lenore Walker's Four Phases
- 19Progressive Escalation
- 20The Cycle in Relationships Without Physical Violence
- 21Variants of the Cycle: Beyond the Classic Model
- 22Cognitive Dissonance: The Brain That Lies to Itself
- 23The Sunk Cost Fallacy
- 24Fear of the Unknown
- 25Irrational Hope
- 26Guilt and the Sense of Responsibility
- 27Learned Helplessness and Resignation
- 28The Domestic Stockholm Syndrome
- 29Dichotomous Thinking: All or Nothing
- 30Attachment to Potential: Loving What Could Be
- 31Anyone Can Be a Victim — But Some Are More Vulnerable
- 32Jeffrey Young's Early Maladaptive Schemas
- 33Attachment Styles and Trauma Bonding
- 34Childhood Trauma: The ACE Study Data
- 35The Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma
- 36Exercise 9: Exploring Your Schemas
- 37Exercise 10: Letter to the Inner Child
- 38Why It Is So Hard to See
- 39The Boiling Frog Phenomenon Revisited
- 40The 15 Clinical Signs of Trauma Bonding
- 41Beyond the 15 Signs: The Invisible Dimensions
- 42Trauma Bonding in Non-Conjugal Relationships
- 43The Role of Social Media in Modern Trauma Bonding
- 44Exercise 11: Self-Assessment Grid
- 45Exercise 12: The "Best Friend" Test
- 46Detachment Is Not an Event — It Is a Process
- 47Step 1: Recognition (Weeks 1-2)
- 48Step 2: Cognitive Restructuring (Weeks 3-6)
- 49Step 3: No Contact (or Reduced Contact)
- 50Step 4: Behavioral Activation
- 51Step 5: Managing Relapses
- 52Exercise 13: Relapse Prevention Plan
- 53Exercise 14: The STOP Protocol
- 54The Paradoxical Grief
- 55Identity Reconstruction
- 56Rebuilding Trust: A Gradual Process
- 57Sexual Healing After Trauma Bonding
- 58Parenting After Trauma Bonding
- 59Self-Compassion: An Antidote to Trauma Bonding
- 60The Body That Remembers: Somatic Healing
- 61Rebuilding Healthy Relationships
- 62The Role of Professional Therapy
- 63Exercise 15: My Recovered Identity
- 64Exercise 16: The Closing Ritual
- 65Foundational Works
- 66Recommended Supplementary Works
- 67In the Same Collection
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