The Four Attachment Styles

Dr. Herbert Tannenbaum is a licensed psychologist practicing in New Jersey. Herb Tannenbaum, PhD works with couples and individuals through his own private practice and serves as the executive director of the Center for Effective Living. Additionally, Herb Tannenbaum, PhD maintains a particular professional interest in such topics as attachment theory.

Individuals develop their attachment style during their childhood. This attachment style then guides how they relate and connect to others in adulthood. There are four basic styles of attachment and each one is briefly discussed below:

1. Secure — Individuals with this type of attachment demonstrate a mutual respect for other adults. Relationships are formed on trust and care and involve compromise from both parties. These individuals are emotionally available and responsive to the needs of those they care for.

2. Anxious — Also known as ambivalent attachment, individuals with an anxious attachment style often have unpredictable parents who are nurturing at some times and insensitive during others. As adults, these individuals struggle with trusting their partner and constantly fear abandonment.

3. Avoidant — These individuals never learned to form healthy attachments due to unresponsive parents. They avoid intimacy as adults and struggle to express affectionate feelings clearly. Adults with this attachment style are more likely to withdraw from others or focus on work.

4. Disorganized — Although this was not an original attachment style, later studies found that abused children appeared disorganized when their parents left a room and then returned. Adults with disorganized attachment style detach themselves from what is going on around them.

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Dr. Herb Tannenbaum has assisted with several media advertising campaigns, including the Partnership for a Drug-Free America’s “Just Say No” campaign.

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