Separation anxiety
Distress on being separated from someone close — developmentally expected in a child, a sign of insecure attachment in an adult.
How it shows up
In a child it peaks between eight months and three years and is a sign that attachment has developed. In an adult it shows as distress when a partner is away and a need for constant contact.
What we do with it in therapy
With parents we work on predictable goodbyes that don’t drag on. With adults, on what happens inside you when the other person isn’t there — and how to bear it.
See also
Rationalisation
A reasonable-sounding explanation for something you did for entirely different reasons.
Therapeutic goal
A jointly agreed shift by which we both know whether anything is happening.
Stepfamily
The family that forms when two partners with children from previous relationships come together.
