Evolutionary trauma and the search for intimacy: a relational perspective

Evolutionary trauma is a condition of psychological vulnerability resulting from experiences of abuse and neglect in childhood attachment relationships. Evolutionary trauma has negative effects on the Self and relationships: individuals who have been exposed to such experiences can organise their personalities around pathological dissociation, in order to prevent the painful states of mind connected to childhood traumatic attachments from reaching consciousness; pathological dissociation, in turn, prevents the maturation of the capacity for emotional regulation and mentalisation, which are crucial for the development of a sense of self connected to the world. Therefore, patients who have suffered an evolutionary trauma are often trapped in the "porcupine dilemma", hovering between the desire for relational reparation for the wounded areas of one's self and the intense fear of being rejected, abused, and abandoned. This is reflected in the clinical relationship, since for these patients the search for intimacy is constantly threatened by the fears and negative representations they have of themselves and others; this fear often leads them to act as if they voluntarily wish to damage the therapeutic relationship, eventually leading them to increase the feeling of a lack of connection with others. This problem is central to the treatment of patients who have suffered an evolutionary trauma, and requires the clinician to broaden the boundaries of treatment by deeply participating in the search for intimacy in the therapeutic relationship, also through enactments, which should be considered in this context as possible sources of clinical knowledge and therapeutic action.