Traumatic bonding

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Traumatic bonding, also referred to as trauma bonding, is the process of an abuse victim developing a strong emotional bond with the perpetrator of the abuse (not with other survivors of the same abuse). The two main factors that contribute to the establishment of a trauma bond are a power imbalance in the relationship (e.g., whether the abuser has control over the victim in some way) and intermittent rewards and punishments. Intermittent rewards and punishments means that the abuser will be violent or cruel one day, and then be kind or loving another day; the victim endures the abuse in the expectation that the abuse will be temporary, albeit in a recurring cycle of abuse that predictably returns to abusive behavior. Trauma bonding is not an emotional bond between survivors of a shared traumatic experience. Trauma bonding can occur within abusive romantic relationships, platonic friendships, parent-child relationships, incestuous relationships, cults, hostage situations, sex trafficking...

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