We Need To Talk with Paul C. Brunson - Is Your Attachment Style Sabotaging Your Relationships? Dr Amir Levine Explains How to Rewire It

Episode Date: April 9, 2026

Anxious, avoidant or secure? Dr Amir Levine breaks down the science of attachment styles and why the way we connect in relationships shapes our emotional world.  Dr. Amir Levine is a psychiatrist, n...euroscientist, and bestselling author of Attached and new book Secure, whose work has transformed how millions understand attachment styles and relationships. In the first of a three-part series, Amir explains how anxious, avoidant, and secure patterns show up in adulthood, and how understanding them can completely change the way you experience love. He shares the story behind his best-selling book and how a personal breakup led him to uncover research that had been hidden in academic papers for decades. Amir also challenges one of the biggest myths in psychology, explaining why your childhood accounts for less than 10% of your adult attachment style. We’re Talking Attachment Styles with Dr Amir Levine (Part One) Follow me here: https://www.instagram.com/needtotalk   https://www.tiktok.com/@weneedtotalkpod  Take the We Need To Talk quiz to discover your attachment style and get personalised episode recommendations: https://linkly.link/2g3t4 Support Amir here: Website: https://linkly.link/2g2xk My Attachment Topography Calculator: https://linkly.link/2g2xl Secure at Waterstones https://linkly.link/2g8vz Enter 'Secure26' for 25% off (00:00) Intro (01:04) Paul Fanboys Over Dr Amir’s Work (02:32) What Are Attachment Styles? (04:01) The International Success of *Attached* (04:55) Dr Amir Breaks Down the Three Main Attachment Styles (08:30) How Do Attachment Styles Originate? (12:13) How Attachment Styles Impact Our Lives (14:02) Can We Change Our Attachment Styles? (17:00) Saily Ad (18:10) Dr Amir Explains the “My Attachment Topography Calculator” Sponsored by: Saily - Download from the app store and use code WNTT at checkout for 15% off. For more details: https://saily.com/wntt ⛵ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 You said this place was steps from the water. We just haven't found the steps yet. How much did we save? Enough. Enough to get lost! Or you could book a stay with Hilton. Welcome to your oceanfront room. Just steps from the water.
Starting point is 00:00:16 The Hilton sale is on now. Book on Hilton.com or the Hilton app and save up to 20% to get the stay you expected. When you want savings, not surprises. It matters where you stay. Hilton, for the stay. Dr. Amir Levine, your book Attached, I believe, is one of the most important books of modern times. It sold multiple millions of copies, it's been translated to 42 languages.
Starting point is 00:00:42 It's kind of crazy. You're the godfather of this. Those attachment styles, anxious, avoidant, and secure, is a major predictor, long-term satisfaction in relationships. How do attachment styles originate? That's kind of like the million dollar question. So, hey there, before we begin the episode, I just want to say, thank you for choosing we need to talk. Doing this podcast is one of the greatest joys of my life. And I want to continue to share it with you.
Starting point is 00:01:11 So hit follow and the bell icon. It takes just a second and it helps us to continue to grow this podcast. Dr. Amir Levine, we need to talk. I'm here to do that. First, I have to fan over you for a little bit, which I don't believe I've ever started any conversation fanning over a guest. Thank you. But I'm going to do it.
Starting point is 00:01:48 Your book attached, which was, what, 2010 that you wrote with Rachel Heller. I believe is one of the most important books of modern times. Thank you. And it's a book that I've recommended. I have gifted, I have given to many people, I've read over and over and over again. Your book Secure, which I was privileged enough to read in advance copy, is also, I believe, one of the most important books ever written in, you know, in modern times. And I believe will revolutionize how people relate to each other.
Starting point is 00:02:32 I am so excited to have you here. There's so many topics that I would love to unpack with you, but I just wanted to make sure that you know how important I believe your work is. Thank you. I really appreciate it. I'm actually, I didn't expect this. I'm really, I'm so glad to be here, and I'm really looking forward to be able to talk about some of the tools that I have in this book
Starting point is 00:02:56 and how he helped me enormously and he helped my patients, and I wanted to help others too. Yes, yes. Could we start for anyone who does not know what attachment styles are and what it means and why it's important? Could we start there? What is an attachment style? So I have to say that I came across these attachment styles by chance. And this whole book came out of just really just like something that it really could also have not happened just as easily.
Starting point is 00:03:30 I was working, I'm a psychiatrist and a child psychiatrist, and I was working in a therapeutic nursery, and I knew about attachment styles in children. There was like anxious, avoidance, a cure, but I didn't know anything about that in adulthood, but the work itself was so interesting at the time that I went and I read more and more, and that's where I discovered that, lo and behold,
Starting point is 00:03:52 there's also those same attachment styles also exist in adulthood and really determine how we behave in close relationships. And for me, I was going through a breakup at the time, and it was like a light bulb went on. And it's like, oh my God, I can't believe this is actually what's going on in the relationship. That's why we broke up. And that knowledge, it almost like you started to see things in color where before you saw everything in black and white. Wow. So I talked to my friend, my childhood friend, Rachel Heller, and you know, when you go through a breakup, you incessantly talk about the breakup.
Starting point is 00:04:25 So I said, you know what? Instead of incessantly, let's do something about it. Let's take this information and turn it into a book. But we've always had this running joke that it's only going to sell one copy to the Library of Congress because we wrote it for ourselves, really. Oh, my gosh. Well, you know, could you brag a little bit? How many copies of Attached have been sold?
Starting point is 00:04:44 It sold multiple millions of copies. It's been translated to 42 languages. It's kind of crazy. We never imagined it would turn out to be. And it's still selling. It's kind of insane, yeah. Yes, yes. It is, you know, so I've been writing books.
Starting point is 00:04:59 for the last three years for the most part. I know. Well, thank you. Thank you. And what was interesting is that every time I would see the top 10 list anywhere, I would say, oh, great, my book is at number seven. And I would always look, number one attached. Number one was always attached, Amir Levine,
Starting point is 00:05:19 which is incredible. Yeah, I know. It's like, I think, you know what? I think we were able to do that same, like, Eureka experience that I had. And it wasn't that easy. It took us like five years of writing it because those attachment styles,
Starting point is 00:05:34 the anxious, avoidant, and secure, they didn't really, they were buried in academic papers for adults. Like, there wasn't an immediate translation. I could see how it was, like, how it mattered to me. But it wasn't that easy translating it, you know, to give a lot of examples.
Starting point is 00:05:49 So I'll tell you, basically, it all has to do with how comfortable you feel with intimacy and closeness, but also how sensitive of a radar do have to potential infraction in that closeness. So for potential threat, what we mean threat in an attachment is basically like all of a sudden the other person is less available to you. So how sensitive of a radar do you have for that lack of availability?
Starting point is 00:06:13 Ah, okay. So it's like these two dimensions. So if you really love closeness a lot, you just can't get enough of it. But at the same time, you're like, oh, they didn't call me back. Oh, what's happening? not only bad things, you also notice good things. And that's very important. And we're going to have to talk about that
Starting point is 00:06:31 because I really need people to understand. It's not only the bad thing that you notice more, but you're able to notice also the bad things. Then you have more of an anxious attachment styles because you can see, whoa, why are they not answering? What's happening? Are they okay? I see. That's anxious.
Starting point is 00:06:48 And then if you love closeness, but all of these signals go over your head because I don't want to sort of say, oh, secures our shoes. so great. It's just like they are great, but also it's easier for them to be great because they don't notice all these little things that are happening. There will be the last to know that's like their partner is cheating on them because it's just like goes over their head. Interesting. Oh my goodness. I didn't know that. Yeah, yeah. So it's great to be secure, but also you'll notice things less and you love
Starting point is 00:07:15 closeness. So you're not as easily threatened by things that may happen in the relationship. And it's easier for you to keep calm because you don't see the potential threat that's coming. That's secure. And then avoidance, they just don't feel comfortable with too much closeness. And people say it's because this and that happened to them in childhood. I personally disagree. And I don't think the data supports that. I'm a scientist. So I have to sort of say whether science supports or doesn't support. I find that avoidance just don't feel comfortable with too much closeness, but you can help them work around that, and you can teach them certain tricks where they can actually help them to become more secure. But there is like, just like this,
Starting point is 00:07:59 they just don't like to be too close. And they kind of like, it's like, oh, it just doesn't feel right to me if it's too close. So that's avoidant. And then there's a very small, small portion, there's a very small portion of the population that is fearful avoidant where they have this, they do notice a lot of potential threat in a relationship. They really want to be in a relationship, but they also need their space. Whereas like classic avoidance, they're like, who needs relationships? I'm fine on my own. They really put a lot of emphasis on self-reliance. Fearful avoidance want to be in a relationship, but then also struggle in it. Okay. Now, you just said something in there when you were talking about avoidance that goes against what I often hear
Starting point is 00:08:43 people say about attachment theory. Now, you're the godfather of this. So basically, you're telling everyone, okay, this is a myth. And what that is, is you said that avoidance, it doesn't necessarily come from their relationship as a child. Right. Right. And so if you could speak to how do attachment styles originate, how do they then grow through to how we possess them as an adult? Right. I think that's a great, that's kind of like the million dollar question. That's a great, I'm glad we're starting with that because it's so important. So I'll tell you first how attachment styles were first discovered. Okay. So, and I think it was an amazing discovery. We talk about discovering the DNA. It's like for a relationship person. Like for me, that's like the discovery of the DNA. It was Mary Answorth. She first discovered these attachment style in Uganda. She went there on a field study. Actually, she went after her husband. because he was supposed to go there, and then she just did the work. She was a psychologist.
Starting point is 00:09:49 And she looked at how babies are weaning and their patterns are weaning. And then she saw these three ways that babies are weaning when they stop. And then she came back to Baltimore to Johns Hopkins, and then she did it in the lab. She did something that's called the strange situation test, which is very important because it also goes,
Starting point is 00:10:11 I'm going to tell you about it a little bit, but you'll see. I'll refer back to it because it's important for adults too. So she took toddlers and their caregivers and she brought them
Starting point is 00:10:21 you could observe them through a one way, you could observe them through a one-way mirror. And you put them in a room full of toys and immediately you start, you can see it on YouTube. They start pointing at the toys.
Starting point is 00:10:33 They want to play. They start crawling, playing. Every once in a while they look back to see their caregiver, their mother is there and they're there. And then they ask the mother leave and they drop what they're doing, they crawl back, they go over to the door,
Starting point is 00:10:49 start banging, crying, you try to interest them in the toilet, they'll throw it in your face, they don't care, and then they ask the caregiver to come back, and it's in that moment, the reunion where she really classified this reattachment style, and it all has to do with how good is the bond in helping the diet and the baby regulate their emotions. So secures, it's like a miracle. The moment the mother picks them up, they come down, start again, wanting to play. Okay.
Starting point is 00:11:21 Anxious, not at all. They cry and they cry. It takes much longer to soothe them. Sometimes they come down, and then they all of a sudden, oh my God, no, remembering how horrible it was, start crying again. And avoidance sometimes won't really even like cry and they continue to play. And since, but then the mother picks them up and they don't even hug them so much. But when they looked inside, their blood pressures through the roof, so they're also not able, so they're calm, but they're not calm inside, and they're not able to use the bond effectively to regulate their emotions. And then in 1987, Hazen and Shaver thought, well, the same neuropsychotry may also apply to adults. Let's test that. And the seminal studies where they had people in romantic relationships weighed themselves.
Starting point is 00:12:12 according to the parameters that we talked about, are you anxious, avoidant, and insecure. And lo and behold, they saw that it actually is about the same amount of people as babies are anxious and avoidant and secure. Like 50% are secure, around 54, 25 are avoidant, around 20% are anxious. And also, it really is a major predictor of how satisfied, like long-term satisfaction and relationships.
Starting point is 00:12:43 Look at that. Okay. So it's a predictor of long-term satisfaction. Then I would imagine it's also then a predictor of, what, physical health maybe, how long you live? So I'm glad that you're bringing that up because, first of all, I really think it's important. Oh, it's not a predictor of, like, happiness. It's something that sounds a little bit more mundane.
Starting point is 00:13:03 Oh, long-term satisfaction. But if you really think about it, long-term satisfaction means, yeah, you're going to have difficult moments you're going to be, but in the long term, how like stable and good you're going to feel about the relationship. Because really, we're never, like, we are such a social species. We never really, like, we're never doing stuff on our own. Even when we do stuff, we have conversations in our heads. So we're so innately social that it really has something to do with our health and also it affects our relationship with our health care providers. It even has to do with how we shop.
Starting point is 00:13:41 People are secure, care less about logos and consumerism. It also really dictates how we feel about going online and how we can manage the online stuff, you know, who likes you, who doesn't like you, who is like like. It all affects a lot of our perception way beyond our just like one close relationship. It affects our relationship with our friends. It's just like with our colleagues, becoming more secure,
Starting point is 00:14:06 has a much more widespread effect than just like how good is the romantic relationship. And that's why I wrote Secure because I wanted people to have that benefit and we can all become more secure. And that's another very important message. But is that the goal to become secure? Because what you mentioned also,
Starting point is 00:14:30 that blows me away is when you said in the 87 test with the adults, the same percentage. So to me, it sounds like then those adults didn't change from childhood. Okay, great that you're bringing that up because that's probably, I think, the biggest myth, the biggest, biggest myth. And there is research that actually tells you exactly. And it's not just one study. It's multiple studies that every, like, that all that replicated the same finding, is that your childhood attachment explains less than 10% of your adult attachment. So more than 90% sometimes 95% in some studies,
Starting point is 00:15:09 are not explained by your childhood attachment. So I actually find it an extremely hopeful message. Yes. Because it means that we can change. We can change throughout our life, even in old age. And we do, in fact, change. We can help it by change because it doesn't really make sense. You know, we are an uber social species
Starting point is 00:15:31 and our really our biggest asset is our ability to collaborate with others. I mean, we're not very strong animals, but we made it to the moon. We can live in the North Pole. And all because we can collaborate with others and come up with solutions. So it wouldn't make sense that it will be just stay fixated with one thing that happened to us early on. That's how we're going to be forever and ever now. Like, we're much more agile. Our mind, our brain is much more agile than that.
Starting point is 00:16:00 And I actually discovered that in my work in the lab because I'm also a molecular neuroscientist, And that's where I really, when you do those experiments on the molecular level, you really get a sense of how we call the plastic. But it's really how malleable the brain is. On that note, can we talk about the attachment test that I took and even break down the results and what that means? So this is in your new book that you're providing, it's an app. Right. It's a research-based questionnaire. that I sort of modified a bit.
Starting point is 00:16:38 And I actually call it in the book, you can really look and figure out your attachment topography. Because you see it on a graph, you fill out the questionnaire about different people in your life, people that you're close to. Even your pet, by the way. I mentioned that to you,
Starting point is 00:16:54 because we're so close to them, right? So it's an experience in close relationship questionnaire, but it really gives you a wider way. So at the end of it, you get to see where you are And you also can get to see, and that's the new book, Secure, is really about how to change your attachment style. So you can take it over time, and you can actually see how much progress you're making
Starting point is 00:17:14 with all the tools that I actually give you, that I give readers in the book. As you can see, you can map your progress, but you can also get a sense where you are, and if there are outliers, maybe you need to look out for those too. Yes, and that was something that I really appreciated it. Can anyone tell me why roaming fees are all, always so expensive. I feel like every time I get back from traveling overseas, I'm hit with
Starting point is 00:17:42 a jaw-dropping phone bill. It's actually why I'm excited to try our new partner, Saley, an ESIM app that gives you a safe and secure data connection anytime you travel and, most importantly, without any expensive roaming charges. Now, quite a few of my team used Saly during our last trip to L.A. And all accounts were that it was reliable and easy to set up. Saly is available in over 200 destinations and it comes with built-in security features like web protection and ad blockers. The stuff you don't typically think about, but actually, when you're traveling, is really important to keep your data protected. But the part that really pulls me in is that I can change my online location to the UK.
Starting point is 00:18:20 So even if I'm somewhere else, any location blocked content is still accessible. To give it a try, download Saly from the App Store or scan the QR code on the screen. And if you want 15% off your first purchase, make sure you sure you use my code WNTT at checkout. Details are in the episode description. So the app is it's my attachment topography calculator, correct? Right. And you can also, if you go to my website, amelavianmd.com, there's a link there and you can just
Starting point is 00:18:54 go there because that's a mouthful. All right, super. We all have that dream trip. We've been wishing we could go on. But too often, life or usually price gets in the way. That's why Priceline is here to help you turn your dream trip into reality. With up to 60% off hotels and up to 50% off flights, you can book everything you need for your next adventure.
Starting point is 00:19:18 Don't just dream about that next trip. Book it with Priceline. Download the Priceline app or visit Priceline.com and book your next trip today. Are your ad campaigns lighting up the dashboard, but not the pipeline? That's bullspend, and marketers are calling it out in. Dashboard, Confessions. My boss asks for results, so I open my dashboard for the only positive-sounding metric I had. Impressions.
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Starting point is 00:20:06 And what I did is, and what I love is that you can put in as many relationships as possible. So you put your, I didn't know I could put my dog in there. Good? I wonder how I don't come out. I'm going to do that now after this. But I put Jill in as one, so my wife. I also put my friends in as another. And then I put my coworkers.
Starting point is 00:20:28 Right. And I saw that each one did come back with different results. Yes. I mean, you're all, you're, like, it's all within the secure realm. There's a quadrant. So, but then with the friends and with the colleagues, it's sort of like shifted a little bit to, like, closer to, like, more to, like, more to avoidance. But I think that's fine. We don't really share or sort of bear our, like, our souls to our colleagues.
Starting point is 00:20:54 Well, friends, maybe, like, I don't know, maybe you want to think about that. Or, like, no, no, but really, could you, look, looking at those. What, I mean, now, what would you say I should do with those results? So it depends. That's what I really, you know, this is what I really love about attachment. And that's another myth that I need to dispel right away here. It's so important that oftentimes when I went online, I said, oh, you have to heal your attachment style or like they treat it as if it's a pathology.
Starting point is 00:21:29 Yes. But one of the reasons why I fell in love with this feeling. field is that it doesn't come from the medical model. And so it doesn't like, so to pathologize these attachment styles is really not the right way of looking at it because it's not, it's really a variation on the norm. It's like saying that because I have blue eyes, it's a pathology. I see. But it's not a pathology.
Starting point is 00:21:50 Maybe if I live in a very sunny place, I need to wear sunglasses more to protect to sort of to work with my biology. But it's not like, oh, you're like, it's like terrible that you have blue eyes. Okay. So it's the same kind of thing. And I can even, there's been studies that show how in certain circumstances there's an advantage to having an anxious attachment style and an avoidant attachment style. One study that I love, I think it's brilliant. They had a group of people in a room and they had like smoke starting to come out very little in the beginning of barely noticeable from a computer.
Starting point is 00:22:25 And it was the anxious attachment style people that noticed it first. and it was the avoiding people who were like, fuck y'all, I'm out of here. I'm sorry. I'm out of here. But everybody followed. So it's like, you know what? I'm not going to start looking around me
Starting point is 00:22:42 to see what's happening and check on on other people. I need to get out. I'm curious. What are the security? They just said, ah, somewhere in the middle, right? They're not as quick to respond, right?
Starting point is 00:22:52 So I think that's, I think it's so telling. And that's also part of what I tried to address, and secure is to really show each attachment style, like what are their superpower, but also, you know, like, what is your version of putting on sunglasses to help you work with your biology better rather than against it?
Starting point is 00:23:14 Okay. So when we get back to this, attachment is not about, like, healing something. It's about more, is it effective or is it not effective? Is it working for you or is it not working for you? Okay. So we'll start, but if it's working for you, then that's fine. That's great. We don't need to change anything. But he also gives you an idea like, oh, I'm very close to my wife. It looks like I'm very, very secure. I would say that she's probably your biggest confident and the person that you were back to. And she fulfills a role of the emotional connectedness that you need to do. And with other people, you don't feel that need. And it's fine because we all have an attachment hierarchy in our brain.
Starting point is 00:23:56 Okay. And that's really important to understand. It's important to understand that attachment is really, it's all about, it's a safety mechanism. It's how we feel safe in the world. We really focus about the relationship and the quality of the relationship. But it's really, I mean, it is about that, but it's fundamentally something much more profound because we're not descendants of elephants or lions or eagles. We are descendants of animals that were in the middle of the food. chain. And it's hugely, our way to feel safe is by having others around us and knowing that they're available to us and they're looking at us. Because we'll start with the fact that just by the fact that you and I are sitting here, if a predator came, there's just by the sheer fact that you're here, there's a 50% less chance of me getting eaten. Because the other than you or me. But that's a big reduction. Not taking it. into account the fact that maybe we can fight them together. I can alert you to something that's happening,
Starting point is 00:25:03 that we can sort of devise ways of sort of like all that. And that's also, it's not just in humans. They even find it in social birds. Social birds oftentimes, I mean the life of a bird is like you pack for food. And then every once in a while they swoop up and look to see there's predators coming. But if they're in a group, they actually look up a lot less and they get this freedom. I see. It really gives them more energy and more ability to kind of like look for food.
Starting point is 00:25:29 So basically, the relationship is more about how we feel safe because we didn't have like money or credit cards or condos or like fancy cars. People think that that's what's going to make them feel safe, having those assets. But that's not fundamentally how our brain feels safe because it didn't exist when our emotional brain formed. So we all have a surveillance system. Even now, it's always going on in the back of our head. Like, you have an idea where your loved ones are and that they're okay. But if I told you, oh, like a terrible thing, like maybe some sort of an accident happened or a building fell or something I don't even want to say it because it's so, yeah. They will be hard for you to sort of continue this interview.
Starting point is 00:26:11 You'll have to stop and make sure that you're okay. And then you can resume, albeit a little rattled, but still. Oh, yes. Yeah. I mean, on that point, something that actually happened during an interview, or should I say right after? after an interview was my son sent a text. So he was at school. There was an intruder, it was an intruder alarm.
Starting point is 00:26:34 So not a fire alarm, but an intruder was in the building. They had to hide under desks. Oh my God. He sent a text saying, mom, dad, I'm hiding under a desk right now. My world stopped. You see? That was, I couldn't do anything else. Gives me goosebumps.
Starting point is 00:26:49 It just like, it could like, it could. So to your point, Absolutely. So I see that we have that hierarchy, if you will, in our mind. And continued surveillance, continued surveillance, even if we're not aware of it, of knowing where our loved ones are, you know that they're safe, and vice versa for them to us. So if I'm looking here, I see that you have one person that can really rely on a lot,
Starting point is 00:27:16 and the rest. I mean, it's fine not to, like, and we all have that number one, that we know if something bad happens do we go to. And if we're securely attached to them, it's amazing because sometimes all it can, all it will take is one word or is just like simply a hug, which is also very important because attachment, a lot of it is pre-language. So we have to remember that. So sometimes a hug, or if you're not close to them, one word over the phone, and they can
Starting point is 00:27:42 really help you in an amazing way. And I always like to say that there's no, and it's so important, I'm a psychiatrist, so there's no Xanax or Clonopin in the world that can sort of make us calm down that quickly because we're such social species. So when relationships are secure and they work effectively, it's amazing how they can regulate our emotions. But the caveat is that insecure relationships can be one of the most potent instigators of emotional upset. Attachment is both of the basis of suffering and then healing from suffering. Wow, look at that. So you said an insecure relationship will exacerbate issues, in essence.
Starting point is 00:28:30 I believe, because we were talking about also that I believe that my relationship with Jill went from a place of maybe it was an insecure relationship. Maybe I think I was highly anxious in the relationship. I think I was highly avoidant at the same time. And it's moved to a place of security. How does that happen? My guess would be that she's probably more secure. I don't know if that's true or not. I think so.
Starting point is 00:28:59 So in the course of doing this work from the very beginning and then now, more and more all the time, and that's why I call this new type of therapy that I've devised to help people become more secure. Because initially I didn't really know, you know, when I wrote about attachment styles and attach came out, then patients started coming, like, help me become more secure,
Starting point is 00:29:20 but there was no an immediate way of becoming more secure because, again, these attachment styles that didn't come from the medical model. I didn't ever learn about adult attachment styles in my psychiatry training. It's all something that I discovered by chance. So over the years, I really had to sort of really think hard about how to help patients become more secure.
Starting point is 00:29:41 And I found a lot, surprisingly, I found a lot of these answers from my working in the lab and understanding the brain. And I find myself deviating more and more from the regular therapeutic techniques and talking to my patients about the brain and the social brain and how the brain works and devising specific tools to help people become more secure. But even before you go into all that, if just by sheer luck you ended up with someone secure, they're amazing.
Starting point is 00:30:08 They're like these relationship pros. It's like having a built-in relationship coach that will teach you the ways of becoming more secure. And again, it's because it's not, I mean, they're amazing, but if you think about it, I told you in the beginning that it's because they don't have such a sensitive radar. But think what, I think about really of it as like an alarm system that goes off. So it's not a very sensitive alarm. How much harder it is if you have an alarm that goes off of every little thing that happens. That's basically what being anxious and avoidant is. It's like, oh my God, where are they? They're not here. Alarm goes on in your, it really is like an alarm.
Starting point is 00:30:43 It's the whole stress response that gets triggered. in the brain. Yes. Abordant, it's the opposite. Oh my God, they're too close. No, that's not comfortable. Stay away, stay away. Like, oh, I don't know if I can be in this thing.
Starting point is 00:30:53 Like the whole, such a lot of chatter, a lot of energy that their brain uses to kind of try to manage relationships. And I have a whole chapter and secure about energy because it's not a given. Our brain is a huge energy guzzler and it cannot, it has a finite amount of energy. So when I say a lot of energy, I really mean real energy in the brain that you can use for something much better. So with someone secure, you may have acted not so good in the beginning,
Starting point is 00:31:22 may have, like, didn't respond to her or, like, got upset with her, and she was like, bring it on. I can deal with it. Yes. And it was to stay calm, but it's easier for them to stay calm because they just don't, like,
Starting point is 00:31:35 okay, it's like, so he didn't call me today. Come on, he'll call me tomorrow. It's okay. You know what is so mind-blowing to me about this is everything that you're saying now I'm like, thank you, right? Because it's one of these where I thought I was anxiously attached as a child. I could have been.
Starting point is 00:31:55 Yeah, of course. But when I entered my relationship with Jill, and it was funny, even you coming in here today, I was having this conversation with Jill, I said, what do you think, where do you think I was when we met? She said, oh, you were avoidant. You see it? Yeah, she's like, you were definitely a voided. But it's interesting because inside, you describe, you remember that I told you that in this, strange situation, the avoidant child, the blood pressure was going through the roof.
Starting point is 00:32:19 Yes. So inside, it didn't feel like avoidance to you. It felt like, oh, no, I don't know what's happening. Relax and let Ralph's delivery handle your grocery shopping this week. We start with only the freshest items. Then review your list and carefully choose each one. Then we pack it all up and deliver it in as little as 30 minutes. So you can feel confident it's what you ordered. Fresh groceries, your way, with Ralph's delivery and pickup. Get free delivery during online deal days, plus $30 off your first online order.
Starting point is 00:32:51 Ralph's, fresh for everyone. My role is changing and I don't know how to deal with it. Exactly, exactly. But on the outside, you know, she would always say I would present aloof or, you know, get away from me, you know. I'm not going to call you back. You got a bit cool. Yeah, yeah. She was like, you're too cool.
Starting point is 00:33:08 Yeah, you're too cool. But then over time, or not overtime, over our relationship, I believe I have been taught. Exactly. And that's the promise. And that's why I say it's not even being like healed. It's not being healed. It's being taught. I like that you say that because it's really, and I even say it, it's not, I don't even, I mean, I call it secure programming therapy and there's a coaching there. It really is more about learning certain skills to help you make the relationship work better for you, more efficient, more effective. That's all it is. So yeah, she taught you. Which is amazing, right? Yes, she did. Yeah, it is, it is. Join me and Dr. Amir Levine for more in-depth conversation about attachment styles in next week's We're Talking.

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