trauma bond

American  

[trau-muh bahnd] / ˈtraʊ mə ˈbɑnd /

noun

• trauma bonds
  plural

1. an emotional bond that an abuse victim feels toward the person who is abusive to them, particularly when periods of abuse alternate with periods of kindness or affection.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• trauma bonding
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• trauma bonds
  plural

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

trauma bond

Everyone wants to talk about the best and bring their best and I just really do want to hear about, you know, the trauma bond.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2026

Pavitt says what we feel to be destiny may be a pull from our nervous system recognising something that hurt us before and trying to fix it, a pattern therapists call a trauma bond.

From BBC ● Feb. 12, 2026

What was the lay of conversation for what you wanted from that moment — there’s the acknowledgment of their trauma bond and a slightly romantic unproposal?

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 25, 2025

“If they’ve betrayed the person they love the most while that trauma bond is still strong, they internalize the guilt and that can destabilize them or traumatize them further.”

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 5, 2023

“There’s kind of a trauma bond, I think, that happens, when you play in some of these spaces where you might be one of the only American players, depending on the policies of the league.”

From New York Times ● Mar. 8, 2022