From infancy to adulthood, the fear of being abandoned persists. Until recently, mental health professionals had little insight into how traumatic abandonment can be, and how it may impair our future ability to make or maintain relationships.
"Abandonment can occur at many levels," says Susan Anderson, C.S.W., a Huntington, N.Y. psychotherapist and author of The Journey From Abandonment to Healing.
"Abandonment is about loss of love itself, that crucial loss of connectedness. It often involves breakup, betrayal, aloneness -- something people can experience all at once... or even years later as an aftershock."
Abandonment means different things to different people, Anderson continues. "Sometimes abandonment expresses itself as fear. For many people, it can be an invisible barrier holding us back from forming relationships, from reaching our true potential."
In addition to her book, Anderson has developed a Web site, Abandonmentrecovery.com, which contains information on support groups around the country.Anderson's evidence-based work is gaining kudos from leading mental health care professionals who train therapists. "Susan Anderson's research on the emotional and psychobiological issues involved in abandonment provides insight and direction for treatment," says Donna McNelis, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry, and director of Behavioral Healthcare Education at MCP Hahnemann University in Philadelphia.
