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Trauma Bonding

The Traumatic Bond: Understand It, Break Free

By Gildas Garrec · 230 pages · 2026

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.

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Table of contents

  1. 1The complete clinical guide to recognizing, understanding, and breaking toxic attachment
  2. 2Help Resources
  3. 3Domestic abuse
  4. 4Crisis resources
  5. 5A Clinical Definition
  6. 6What Trauma Bonding Is Not
  7. 7The Origins: From Stockholm Syndrome to Trauma Bonding
  8. 8The Seven Components of Trauma Bonding According to Carnes
  9. 9Trauma Bonding in Different Relational Contexts
  10. 10The Cultural Dimension of Trauma Bonding
  11. 11Your Brain Under the Spell
  12. 12The Hijacked Reward System
  13. 13The Stress Axis: Cortisol and Adrenaline
  14. 14Trapped Oxytocin
  15. 15Endorphins and the Pain-Pleasure Connection
  16. 16Traumatic Memory and Emotional Flashbacks
  17. 17The Brain That Betrays: Why Intelligence Doesn't Protect
  18. 18Lenore Walker's Four Phases
  19. 19Progressive Escalation
  20. 20The Cycle in Relationships Without Physical Violence
  21. 21Variants of the Cycle: Beyond the Classic Model
  22. 22Cognitive Dissonance: The Brain That Lies to Itself
  23. 23The Sunk Cost Fallacy
  24. 24Fear of the Unknown
  25. 25Irrational Hope
  26. 26Guilt and the Sense of Responsibility
  27. 27Learned Helplessness and Resignation
  28. 28The Domestic Stockholm Syndrome
  29. 29Dichotomous Thinking: All or Nothing
  30. 30Attachment to Potential: Loving What Could Be
  31. 31Anyone Can Be a Victim — But Some Are More Vulnerable
  32. 32Jeffrey Young's Early Maladaptive Schemas
  33. 33Attachment Styles and Trauma Bonding
  34. 34Childhood Trauma: The ACE Study Data
  35. 35The Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma
  36. 36Exercise 9: Exploring Your Schemas
  37. 37Exercise 10: Letter to the Inner Child
  38. 38Why It Is So Hard to See
  39. 39The Boiling Frog Phenomenon Revisited
  40. 40The 15 Clinical Signs of Trauma Bonding
  41. 41Beyond the 15 Signs: The Invisible Dimensions
  42. 42Trauma Bonding in Non-Conjugal Relationships
  43. 43The Role of Social Media in Modern Trauma Bonding
  44. 44Exercise 11: Self-Assessment Grid
  45. 45Exercise 12: The "Best Friend" Test
  46. 46Detachment Is Not an Event — It Is a Process
  47. 47Step 1: Recognition (Weeks 1-2)
  48. 48Step 2: Cognitive Restructuring (Weeks 3-6)
  49. 49Step 3: No Contact (or Reduced Contact)
  50. 50Step 4: Behavioral Activation
  51. 51Step 5: Managing Relapses
  52. 52Exercise 13: Relapse Prevention Plan
  53. 53Exercise 14: The STOP Protocol
  54. 54The Paradoxical Grief
  55. 55Identity Reconstruction
  56. 56Rebuilding Trust: A Gradual Process
  57. 57Sexual Healing After Trauma Bonding
  58. 58Parenting After Trauma Bonding
  59. 59Self-Compassion: An Antidote to Trauma Bonding
  60. 60The Body That Remembers: Somatic Healing
  61. 61Rebuilding Healthy Relationships
  62. 62The Role of Professional Therapy
  63. 63Exercise 15: My Recovered Identity
  64. 64Exercise 16: The Closing Ritual
  65. 65Foundational Works
  66. 66Recommended Supplementary Works
  67. 67In the Same Collection
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