Attachment Injury
Clinical Practice
Sue Johnson's EFT term (often called an attachment wound): a specific painful experience in a relationship (often a moment of abandonment, betrayal, or…
Sue Johnson's EFT term (often called an attachment wound): a specific painful experience in a relationship (often a moment of abandonment, betrayal, or rejection at a vulnerable moment) that becomes a source of recurring sensitivity. Not the same as a perpetual problem; it needs direct healing, not management.
Evidence
Clinical Practice
Attachment injury, a specific moment of betrayal or abandonment at a critical time that damages the felt safety of a bond, earns Clinical Practice. It is a construct from Emotionally Focused Therapy (Johnson and colleagues) rather than from basic attachment research, with a clinical resolution model and some supporting process studies but a limited controlled evidence base. The rating reflects its standing as a useful clinical concept that has not been independently validated at the level of the core attachment science.