This presentation explores complex trauma and addiction in adolescent and young adult populations through the lens of heartbreak—the psychobiological experience of losing connection to one’s own emotional truth. When a child’s needs and emotions are chronically unmet through abuse, neglect, or misattunement, the developing self learns to foreclose on those needs in order to adapt to what is available, rather than what is needed. Over time, this adaptive process gives rise to the emotional, behavioral, and relational symptoms we recognize as complex trauma.

Attendees will learn to conceptualize these trauma adaptations through the integrated frameworks of attachment theory, interpersonal neurobiology, and developmental affective neuroscience. The session will also provide practical clinical interventions aimed at identifying and working directly with the adaptive patterns that underlie substance use, process addictions, and other survival strategies—helping clients reconnect to their authentic emotional experience and restore the capacity for healthy attachment.