There's More to Understand: Attachment Theory, Trauma, and Neurobiology in Substance Use Disorders and Treatment

Date of Award

Summer 8-23-2025

Document Type

Doctoral Research Paper

Degree Name

Psy.D.

Organizational Unit

Graduate School of Professional Psychology

First Advisor

Lavita Nadkarni

Second Advisor

Brian Gearity

Third Advisor

Roni Rubins

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Keywords

Trauma, Substance use disorder, Substance abuse, Attachment theory, Attachment styles, Neurobiology

Abstract

There is a growing body of research integrating attachment theory and trauma into substance abuse conceptualization and treatment (Fletcher et al., 2014). This comes at a time when the landscape for substance use treatment is changing with the inclusion of harm-reduction approaches and understanding trauma within substance abuse behavior (Drucker et al., 2016). There is a demonstrated interest in the field about using alternative methods of treatment for substance use disorders that reach outside of manualized therapies, behavioral approaches, and the disease model of addiction (Lomas, 2024). This paper uses a case study method of analysis to illustrate the integration of attachment theory, trauma, and neurobiology into substance abuse case conceptualization and treatment, and provide recommendations for the field.

Copyright Date

6-30-2025

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. Permanently suppressed.

Rights Holder

Kennedy McCarver

Provenance

Received from author

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

39 pgs

File Size

268 KB

This document is currently not available here.



Share

COinS