
Trauma Bonding
Le lien traumatique : comprendre, se libérer
By Gildas Garrec · 230 pages · 2026
Available formats
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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Take the trauma bonding test →Table of contents
- 1The complete clinical guide to recognizing, understanding, and breaking toxic attachment
- 2A Clinical Definition
- 3What Trauma Bonding Is Not
- 4The Origins: From Stockholm Syndrome to Trauma Bonding
- 5The Seven Components of Trauma Bonding According to Carnes
- 6Trauma Bonding in Different Relational Contexts
- 7The Cultural Dimension of Trauma Bonding
- 8Your Brain Under the Spell
- 9The Hijacked Reward System
- 10The Stress Axis: Cortisol and Adrenaline
- 11Trapped Oxytocin
- 12Endorphins and the Pain-Pleasure Connection
- 13Traumatic Memory and Emotional Flashbacks
- 14The Brain That Betrays: Why Intelligence Doesn't Protect
- 15Lenore Walker's Four Phases
- 16Progressive Escalation
- 17The Cycle in Relationships Without Physical Violence
- 18Variants of the Cycle: Beyond the Classic Model
- 19Cognitive Dissonance: The Brain That Lies to Itself
- 20The Sunk Cost Fallacy
- 21Fear of the Unknown
- 22Irrational Hope
- 23Guilt and the Sense of Responsibility
- 24Learned Helplessness and Resignation
- 25The Domestic Stockholm Syndrome
- 26Dichotomous Thinking: All or Nothing
- 27Attachment to Potential: Loving What Could Be
- 28Anyone Can Be a Victim — But Some Are More Vulnerable
- 29Jeffrey Young's Early Maladaptive Schemas
- 30Attachment Styles and Trauma Bonding
- 31Childhood Trauma: The ACE Study Data
- 32The Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma
- 33Exercise 9: Exploring Your Schemas
- 34Exercise 10: Letter to the Inner Child
- 35Why It Is So Hard to See
- 36The Boiling Frog Phenomenon Revisited
- 37The 15 Clinical Signs of Trauma Bonding
- 38Beyond the 15 Signs: The Invisible Dimensions
- 39Trauma Bonding in Non-Conjugal Relationships
- 40The Role of Social Media in Modern Trauma Bonding
- 41Exercise 11: Self-Assessment Grid
- 42Exercise 12: The "Best Friend" Test
- 43Detachment Is Not an Event — It Is a Process
- 44Step 1: Recognition (Weeks 1-2)
- 45Step 2: Cognitive Restructuring (Weeks 3-6)
- 46Step 3: No Contact (or Reduced Contact)
- 47Step 4: Behavioral Activation
- 48Step 5: Managing Relapses
- 49Exercise 13: Relapse Prevention Plan
- 50Exercise 14: The STOP Protocol
- 51The Paradoxical Grief
- 52Identity Reconstruction
- 53Rebuilding Trust: A Gradual Process
- 54Sexual Healing After Trauma Bonding
- 55Parenting After Trauma Bonding
- 56Self-Compassion: An Antidote to Trauma Bonding
- 57The Body That Remembers: Somatic Healing
- 58Rebuilding Healthy Relationships
- 59The Role of Professional Therapy
- 60Exercise 15: My Recovered Identity
- 61Exercise 16: The Closing Ritual
- 62Foundational Works
- 63Recommended Supplementary Works
- 64Help Resources
- 65Domestic abuse
- 66Crisis resources
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