Overcoming Trauma Bonding: 8 Strategies & Exercises

A young woman tries to save her father from a monster in a castle by sacrificing herself as a captive instead. She becomes his prisoner. He isolates her from the outside world and all of her friends and family. Despite his fits of rage and violence, the captive and captor fall in love. Her love for the monster “saves” him, and he changes, becoming the man of her dreams.
Beauty and the Beast is one among a sea of stories that glamorize the trauma-bonded relationship. Heathcliff and Catherine, the Phantom and Christine, Edward and Bella — toxic relationships command our attention. While intellectually we understand the abuse embedded in these relationships, even we as viewers or readers are intoxicated by twisted stories like these. There is something addictive and stimulating about a toxic dance with the dark triad.
The stories tell us we can change these monsters and bad boys. But the reality of the trauma bond is far less glamorous. Let’s shed some light on trauma bonding in real life.
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