Kids Who Seem Fine But Aren't: The Truth About Avoidant Attachment

Our ongoing exploration of attachment styles focuses on avoidant attachment, examining how it develops when caregivers consistently fail to respond to children's needs. We unpack why this attachment style, which often makes children appear self-sufficient and well-behaved, actually undermines their emotional development and capacity for meaningful relationships.

• Avoidant attachment develops when caregivers are consistently unavailable or unresponsive to a child's needs
• The first three years of life are critical for attachment formation, with early experiences setting patterns for future relationships
• Children with avoidant attachment often appear independent and "easy" on the surface, making this attachment style easy to miss
• Even though these children don't outwardly show distress, their bodies experience the same stress response as children who openly express needs
• Technology may exacerbate avoidant attachment patterns by providing false substitutes for genuine connection
• Healing approaches include consistent, responsive caregiving, intentional time together, and recognizing that overwhelming a child with affection may backfire
• Simple strategies like scheduled meals together, protected playtime, and modeling healthy boundaries with technology can help children develop more secure attachment

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Transcript

Speaker 1 0:01

Welcome to Brain-Based Parenting, the Boys Ranch podcast for families. We all know how hard being a parent is, and sometimes it feels like there are no good answers to the difficult questions families have when their kids are struggling. Our goal each week will be to try and answer some of those tough questions, utilizing the knowledge, experience and professional training Cal Farley's Boys Ranch has to offer. Now here is your host, cal Farley's Staff Development Coordinator, joshua Sprach.

Speaker 2 0:34

Welcome back everyone and thank you for joining us today as we continue this journey talking about brain-based parenting. Today, we're going to continue talking about attachment styles. Specifically, we're going to talk about avoidant attachment. Again, I'm joined today by Sam Cerna, hello, catherine Clay, hello, and Mike Wilhelm Howdy. To start, as we always do, we're going to do our question of the day. Since we're talking about avoidant attachment, my question today is what activity that most people love but you try to avoid like the plague?

Speaker 1 1:07

For me it's arts and crafts, everybody.

Speaker 2 1:09

my wife is really really good at arts and crafts, but I am like a kindergartner. Even kindergartners are better at arts and crafts than I am so that's what I avoid, like the plague.

Speaker 3 1:20

That's a good answer. Yeah, I kind of avoid large gatherings of people I don't know, so parties of maybe a mutual friend or things like that. I kind of avoid those things or try to find excuses to get out of it.

Speaker 4 1:32

You know, I don't know that many people like this maybe not adults, but I have two little kids, so they love to play with things like play-doh and slime and I avoid that it's. There's something about like running your hands through the same material over and over.

Speaker 2 1:48

That's touched a million gross things that I just cannot, I don't get it.

Speaker 4 1:52

So my daughter always asks me to play with slime, and I always skirt around and find something else to do.

Speaker 2 1:59

I was really glad when my daughter's aged out of that.

Speaker 4 2:01

Oh, it's horrible.

Speaker 5 2:02

Yeah, mine. I never thought about slime, but mine is Disney World. I would rather go to the dentist and have a root canal than to go to Disney World, and I think I'm the only guy that feels that way. Have you ever?

Speaker 4 2:19

been? Yes, I have been, so you can say so with authority.

Speaker 5 2:22

No, I'm just not interested in being somewhere hot and crowded and standing in line and I don't know the artificial, I don't know what it is. I'd rather go to the park or something, but I'd rather take a beating than go to Disney World.

Speaker 4 2:37

That's also a great answer.

Speaker 5 2:40

So I'm a stick in the mud.

Speaker 2 2:41

Everybody wants to go to Disney World. So today we're going to continue talking about attachment styles, and the next one we're going to go into is avoidant attachment. So what exactly is avoidant attachment?

Speaker 4 2:53

Avoidant attachment is the attachment style that developed in early childhood, when the caregiver's response to the child is consistently unavailable or unresponsive in regards to meeting the child is consistently unavailable or unresponsive, and then the child in regards to the meeting the child's needs so the child will cry, ask, bidding for attention, and then the caregiver maybe doesn't really respond in an appropriate way?

Speaker 4 3:15

is that what I'm consistently consistently that consistent, same response is avoidant of whatever the bid is for the attention or the need yeah, I always picture that, like the children seeing the parent's side profile or their back profile more than their faces.

How Avoidant Attachment Forms

Speaker 2 3:31

So how does that become formed then? How does this attachment style develop? Kind of already started talking about it, yeah.

Speaker 4 3:38

I think there's probably a variety of ways. You know, some of it based off caregiver behavior, but also caregiver stress levels or whatever it is that's causing the distraction from the child. We could look at one side of the spectrum are behaviors like neglectful behaviors or the caregivers struggling with addiction or whatever it may be that keeps them out of the present moment with the child. But it could also be a caregiver who is stressed out and can't respond, and that could be related to a lot of things a lot of different children, a lot of different stressors. Whatever the behavior is or whatever the environmental struggle is that keeps the caregiver unaware or not present.

Speaker 5 4:16

So what you're saying, catherine? Even if there were unfortunate circumstances, like, say, mom had a stroke and was not available the way she normally- would that would really compromise attachment and lead to perhaps avoidance. Is that right?

Speaker 3 4:32

Yeah, all that's interesting, guys, because one of the things I'm hearing is that sometimes it can't be helped. That was a really good example, mike, about it's not their fault they're injured or they're sick and maybe that's the only caregiver available at the time and why. It just brings to light how it's. It can even be accidental, um, you know, based on the the caregiver's inabilities or, like you said, preoccupations or addictions and things like that.

Speaker 4 4:58

Those are all sure, if we even talk, there's probably a lot of medical related. You know reasons and hopefully, like sam said, there would be another caregiver or if there's an ill parent, there would be family members close by. But, like we've talked about in previous podcasts, we don't live in large communities or large families anymore and so I think maybe that's more prevalent than we realize. If there's a caregiver that's got a disability or whatever it may be, I think, too, the generations play a fact in that.

Speaker 2 5:26

Like I grew up in the 80s and 90s and we were the latchkey kids, you know, we'd come home, take care of ourselves after school, do our homework, feed ourselves, you know. So we're just kind of on our own because both parents are working.

Speaker 3 5:38

Yeah, and that's interesting too, because one of the things I've read is that it talks about not meeting their emotional needs. And I was thinking about when a kid falls and maybe skins their knee or gets a little boo-boo and they come to you and you're hey, that's not that big a deal.

Speaker 2 5:54

You don't need a.

Speaker 3 5:55

Band-Aid, things like that. But in reality, what are they seeking is, hey, my care and my concern, and that I meet that need and just simply put. Simply put a band-aid, even if there's no blood or anything, and it makes them feel better, or kiss it and make it better, things like that.

Speaker 4 6:08

I think your example is interesting too, because in the avoidance style the parent would not respond, the parent would. We could talk about their noses and their phone or whatever it may be, they're either not there to heal the wound or put the band-aid on, whether they're present physically or otherwise, or they are there and they're unresponsive to the child so each time they come up and say I've got a boo-boo, it's met with silence or avoidance or whatever. Yeah.

Speaker 3 6:35

That makes total sense.

Counterintuitive Signs of Avoidance

Speaker 5 6:36

Yeah, now question I have I see how this plays out very clearly and this is really helpful. Just this discussion we're having. I'm wondering maybe some of the listeners are too are there particular windows of development that are especially critical? Is this happening all the time? Is it happening just in one particular time of life, or how does that play out?

Speaker 4 6:59

You know, I think we all can say like the first handful of years, the first three years, are the most important, you know, for this stuff to be developed well and organized. As you're talking, I'm kind of thinking about a caregiver responding to an infant during that time when the infant's brain is growing the quickest and it's learning the most and all of that stuff, and it is more vulnerable to insults such as like avoid an attachment or whatever. And so I think if attachment is impacted early on, it definitely sets the tone for later relationship. Now, if the first couple of years of a child's life was met with secure attachment and then there's hiccups down the road, they're going to do much better because they have that base of secure attachment and so that those first handful of years definitely do matter much more than I think we realize in regard to what happens later on and what unfolds.

Speaker 4 7:54

And so another piece to that is those first couple of years the parent is supposed to be the external stress regulator. So stressors come in and the parent responds to stressor might be a dirty diaper, it might be I'm hungry, I'm cold, I'm wet, whatever it may be. And if that is met with unresponsiveness or if that's met with unavailability, like what we're talking about in this avoidant attachment. That is detrimental, right, because then they learn I pretty much detrimental, right, because then they learn pretty much they learn I am invisible, I'm not here, my relationship with you isn't important, whatever it may be. And the opposite of that is if a parent responds and creates that secure attachment where they change the diaper, they meet the need, they're present and loving, the touch is nice and soft and comforting, all that stuff, and then they're building secure attachments.

Speaker 3 8:45

You know, one observation I'm having about that just came to my head is this is also the years. They can actually not do anything for themselves Right the most vulnerable no language, no ability to really move. How interesting.

Speaker 5 9:00

And no language to the memories as well, so it's more of a conundrum as they grow older if they were deprived of adequate nurture so that zero to two, what you're saying, that's a big deal isn't it.

Speaker 5 9:15

And boy, I think all of us have seen that. I marvel at what you just said, catherine, how that plays out, where a child can have a pretty solid zero to two and then have just maybe some disastrous things happen later in life and how resilient they can be. But on the other hand, if that zero to two, it seems to me like if that zero to two happened in an unfortunate way, no matter how. That's very difficult and there's always some challenges down the road.

Speaker 5 9:46

Always hope, but it's particularly challenging, isn't it? Yes, that's helpful.

Speaker 2 9:50

Thank you. So I think one of the most confusing parts of avoiding attachment is that on the surface, these kids oftentimes will look okay, they seem independent, they don't act up and in some ways it seems like they're able to take care of themselves. So why do we see this as a style of attachment that is not ideal.

Speaker 4 10:07

I was going to say it's a bit counterintuitive for a child to not have any needs of a caregiver, and so what we were talking about a minute ago is what is learned here is that I can fall down or I can get hurt and I better take care of that myself, and that's not ideal for a child, right? So I think that they have learned that. They have learned that they have to take care of themselves, that they do have to be independent, that they have to take care of their wound or whatever.

Speaker 4 10:36

It's not what should be happening at that age they should be seeking out care from their caregiver and knowing their caregiver will show up and take care of them.

Speaker 3 10:43

That's a great explanation, and what I was going to say from a parenting perspective is that if you think about the things you just said, josh, about being independent, they don't act up and then they can take care of themselves, that sounds ideal. It's like a little adult. Hey, well, they don't really need me and they're right, they don't misbehave, they act well everywhere they go, wow, you know. And so it looks so good from the outside. But what's going to come up is what probably we'll talk about later is that people end up with maybe some kind of different problems out of those things.

Speaker 4 11:11

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that might be what a parent might think is okay, yes, that hey, yeah, they they're, they're good, they can take care of themselves when, I think, you know, we all work in child care and I and you guys have been house parents, so I'm sure that you can name the kids that um are the super compliant kids, or the kids that take care of business, or you know whatever phrase you want to use and those kids end up being kind of model citizens, for lack of a better word. But what we're learning, I think, is that there's stuff stirring inside that we're not seeing. These kids, to me, often get labeled the kids that fly under the radar, and then there's internal stuff, or lack of ability to attach, or whatever it may be that goes undetected, almost simply because they are so independent and we praise that. You know, wow, look at this 10-year-old.

Speaker 4 11:57

He's more mature than our high schoolers, or whatever it may be. But looking a little bit deeper, I think we'll notice or see some internal struggles, or even, you know, external struggles that we just don't pick up on because they're hidden, or even external struggles that we just don't pick up on because they're hidden.

Speaker 5 12:12

I remember this was years ago I was on a team that assisted CPS for a week of just emergency care for a large group of children that were removed from a cult, and that was my first experience around children young pre-adolescent children that did not cry, and there was something. It seems like crying is a bad thing and we're distressed about that. Well, the only thing worse is be around some pre-eds that do not cry, and then you know something's wrong.

Speaker 2 12:44

It's interesting you talk about that. I heard a study that they did with kids, where kids who cried and kids who had that more secure attachment that we talked about last week, they took their diapers and they did a test of the diapers to check cortisol levels and in their cortisol levels the was actually pretty high. And then they took the diapers of kids who came from the backgrounds of this more avoidant style, that didn't cry, and the cortisol levels in those diapers were actually the same, if not higher. So on the surface it shows that one looks like they're stressed and the other one doesn't look like they're stressed, but in reality they're both stressed. The one has just learned if I cry, nothing matters, nothing happens. So what's the point? Which?

Speaker 4 13:24

is really really interesting.

Impact on Adult Relationships

Speaker 2 13:27

So if we have a caregiver who is detached, disengaged and disimpressed, wow, and uncaring to me as a child, that's going to shape how I see the world, right? So if this is my template, what would my I am statement be? If this is my caregiver, I am what Alone, invisible, insignificant, Wow. Others are Busy.

Speaker 4 13:46

Unreliable.

Speaker 2 13:47

Unavailable. The world is Lonely.

Speaker 4 13:50

Lonely. I was thinking that too.

Speaker 2 13:52

So I must do what Be alone. Take care of myself, Take care yeah, what a message that is for a young kid, right? Who do they have to trust? Themselves.

Speaker 4 14:01

Themselves. Yeah, it looks like probably no one but themselves.

Speaker 2 14:02

Which is a hard lesson for life, that early age that I can't really trust anyone except for myself to take care of me.

Speaker 4 14:09

Right.

Speaker 2 14:09

So what do you think the impact of this attachment style will have on these kids when they become adults, because of that template of the world?

Speaker 3 14:15

Well, they probably don't find relationships to be meaningful to them. They're very superficial. They might find a way to cope by not using others, but they're going to have enough contact to get their needs met, maybe similarly to their young age. Have enough conversation to get their needs met. Maybe similarly to their young age, um, have enough conversation to get what they need and go about their day and then go back to possibly just being alone.

Speaker 4 14:35

That's just a guess well, I think two relationship ideally are rewarding and so, kind of speaking to what sam says, if there's not a a reward associated with the relationship, it is going to look transactional. It's going to look like it's christ, christmas time and you give me a present and that's our transaction with each other. Or it's my birthday and you give me a present, that's our transaction. But the deeper connection, the bonding piece, I think will be missing in between the child and the adult, and then, thinking of future relationships between even a married couple, it could get that far, you know. So I agree with what Sam was saying couple that could get that far, you know.

Speaker 5 15:11

So I agree with what. Sam was saying yeah, I was thinking that joy seems to be something that's experienced through relationship and within family community, and be closed off from relationship it seems like a joyless existence, don't you think? And maybe even just some cynicism.

Speaker 4 15:28

But I wonder too, too, how it might feel if this is your attachment style and you meet somebody who wants to be in relationship with you whatever type of relationship that is and how that might feel internally. It might be scary or it might make you nervous, or it feels like it's going to fail or it's like the worst. I'm just thinking how you might approach that relationship, anticipating that that the person won't meet your needs.

Speaker 3 15:52

Yeah, it's going to be tough because, I mean, I would imagine this person would be emotionally unavailable and you know, probably not even express a lot of emotion.

Speaker 3 16:01

I mean, right, they might be walking around mad or sad on the inside, and how would their partner or other people in their life even know? Because inevitably they have to go to work and operate and things like that. But I imagine they, they like it said earlier, we, like we said earlier, um, they're, they're going to be good, they're going to do what needs done and they might be very productive citizens, although they're not going to be highly emotional, um, and that can create problems for them, like katherine just said, in a relationship.

Speaker 2 16:27

um, you're probably not going to know that until you get into some deep stuff in a relationship so what role do you think technology is going to play in the development of this style of attachment, maybe in our current functioning and maybe even in the future?

Technology's Role in Attachment Formation

Speaker 3 16:40

technology is crazy, because technology, it can be an easy substitute. You don't have to be there, you can be another person, um, you know, online gaming is is is a big thing and it's everywhere. It's on her cell phone now. It used to be. You had to, you had to have a great setup for your computer. I know from personal experience, but now it's everywhere, available to everyone, um, and you can chat with people you have no idea who are, so in a way, I think you're that's a way to try to get a neat man. Because, right, what do we all want? We do want connection and attachment, even if we don't know it, um, and that's an easy way to do it. Um, but what comes along with that? And let's say, that's a kid, that's one thing. Well then, you're not, you're not really attaching to people around you, your, your current family, and these children grow up to be adults. They also it. The same thing happens now if they're having kids. They're just kind of passing. The same thing it's just so easy now with technology.

Speaker 3 17:31

Yeah, um to just, and it feels kind of okay. I think it feels okay to them too. It's not, you know, very normal.

Speaker 4 17:37

It's normal, really, that's the right word yeah, when I, when I'm reading this question, I'm thinking about technology is creating like a false sense of connection. And then I also think, just working out here at Boys Ranch, thinking about when we attend meetings with kids that are struggling with social skills, connection, able to maintain long-term relationship, and then we start talking about their technology use and more times than not, it feels like there's inappropriate technology use related to connecting with people across the world or connecting with other kids that have similar interests or whatever it may be. And you know, as caregivers are concerned with them talking pretty much to strangers on the internet, but that's usually what they're doing is they're seeking out connection that feels safer, that they have a little bit more control and power in that relationship, since it's a virtual relationship. And then we start talking about, like now, meetings. I mean that piece, but also as adults, we meet via Zoom or we meet.

Speaker 4 18:33

Whatever you know platform there is to meet. So even as adults, we're using technology and screens and all that stuff more now, and many people say I'm much more comfortable on a zoom call or I'm much more comfortable in a zoom meeting. And I'm curious too like, are the people that are more comfortable in a Zoom meeting also people that would fall under this type of attachment style?

Speaker 1 18:53

I mean.

Speaker 3 18:53

I don't know, it's just a thought, but I think a lot of people are, and your question was, josh, that what's the role you think it's playing in the development of this style? Yes, it's just keeping it going. Yes, it's just so easy. I wouldn't be surprised I don't have data, but I wouldn't be surprised that this doesn't become one of the most common styles in my life, unless people are being intentional. Maybe, mike, maybe you could speak to something on that.

Speaker 5 19:20

No, I agree with what Sam, what you and Catherine both said about this. I just wonder when it's going to become. It took a while to figure out when it's going to become. It took a while to figure out, I don't know. In the late 1800s that opium was probably not quite as good a thing as many of you thought it was.

Speaker 5 19:41

And we just haven't hit that point of critical mass yet with this discussion, and I'm probably, like everyone listening, I'd be a hypocrite if I said that I am had all the boundaries with technology figured out because I'm very dialed into a tablet and things like that.

Speaker 5 19:54

But it's a big concern because, as a pastor and watching faith development happen with kids, those with an avoidant attachment style really struggle, especially the boys, even more so than the girls.

Speaker 5 20:07

But the boys with an avoidant attachment style really struggle with the whole God piece. It's more complex, it's multifaceted, but this is one piece of it. And if they had the misfortune of having an under-resourced home, maybe a single-parent home, and that caregiver was working two jobs and just trying their best, and then that child was off at school in a large classroom that was under-resourced, they're not getting the eye contact, the facial cues being called by name, the warmth. That's not happening. And then to compensate whenever they can, they are just getting lost in electronics, on screens, even at school, but then at home especially, it seems like it's cultivating more of an avoidant attachment style, wouldn't you agree with that? And as that goes, that whole God piece becomes more and more challenging for young people to warm up to the transcendent. So, yeah, very concerned about it and I wish I had the magic pill or answer to it all.

Speaker 4 21:16

And I think it's all about balance right.

Speaker 4 21:17

We are not going to rid our kids or ourselves of technology and I think there's some benefits to technology. I think about, just in my field, connection to like therapy via telehealth or whatever it may be. I think more people are seeking out help because they are able to do it through a screen. Whether that's good, whether that's bad, I don't know the research on that, but I would say that more people are seeking out services because they're not as difficult to get to right, like physically, actually get to a person's office or whatever. So I think that there's a balance, definitely a balance in technology being helpful and harmful.

Speaker 2 21:55

So what are some ways that we can help the kids move to a place of security in their attachment if they have this avoidant style?

Speaker 3 22:02

Just to state the obvious. I mean they need your attention, they need our love and care and concern. When they come with a problem or any small thing, we need to be responsive to those things, especially at their younger ages. Even when they're older, it's never too late to start.

Speaker 4 22:18

When I think, too, some awareness about the avoidant attachment style as you parent or care give, because you are probably going to, I would imagine, approach an avoidant kid in a different way, knowing that your presence, your attunement might be confusing to them or stressful to them or whatever it may be, or it may be too intimate for them, and so being mindful of your distance, the proximity between you and the child, or that they may have a sensitivity to relationships or whatever it may be, so that you're working with them and not against them, and trying to bond.

Speaker 5 22:56

It'd be easy to overwhelm for a professional caregiver or volunteer working with a child that's not your own. It'd be easy to overwhelm a child that has an avoidant attachment style. That has an avoidant attachment style is if we just assume that, okay, our family, lots of hugs, and well, that must be good for everybody all the time, right away, and not so right.

Speaker 3 23:21

Well, you know, here in group living it's a little more difficult.

Speaker 3 23:28

I mean, you could have eight to ten kids with you at any given moment and they all have their own needs and attention.

Speaker 3 23:35

And then you know the parents have things they have to do, dinner, to cook, chores to get done, all the things.

Speaker 3 23:38

But one of the things a real smart guy told me one time was spend 15 minutes a week with your child, with a child, and so we he set a goal with us to just check in with these kids.

Speaker 3 23:45

And I know that sounds like very little, 15 minutes a week, and so that just tells you how busy he thought we were. And it's true. And so just finding time to just be in their proximity, be in their presence, especially when, I mean, at the time we're getting kids they're at least five or you're dealing with teenagers you know we might think that what they are doing is what they want and they think that right, sitting around playing their video games and, you know, chatting all day or just being alone in their rooms, and there's some value to having some alone time and playing some games with your friends and those are all good things. But it's up to the adults to be intentional, to set the limits, to set times, to give the kids what they actually need, because they need time with us. They need time to learn something To connect.

Speaker 3 24:29

Connect and all those things, and just sometimes, just intentionally, seeking them out and making small bids of your own right. All right, with intentional, with intentional purpose. Hey, I'm just checking in, how did your day go at school, how did you know that this go? And just knowing things about them. Right, because we have to model. We have to model and you know, as as parents sometimes, and I'll say that you are busy too- yes we have dinner to cook and everything like I said earlier, but every parent has things to do, and so we have to build it in our own schedules to intentionally spend time yes, with our kids.

Speaker 4 25:00

I think too, sam, as you're speaking, each time that you do that, each time that you invest that 15 minutes where you respond in a way that is is present and nurturing you, it's a small challenge to their internal dialogue, right about adults, about caregivers, and you know, the child probably experienced the avoidant caregiving for a lot of years. And then they come here or wherever, and it's about the repetition of you telling them well, not all adults, not all adults will give you a Band-Aid or whatever it is, and that's just years and years and years of work to offset some of the early caregiving stuff.

Speaker 5 25:39

I would think, going along too with what you said, sam. I can't imagine that it wouldn't always be a helpful thing for any family, no matter the setting, to be intentional about and protect one sit-down-together meal a day and I know that's harder now than you think but if we're not intentional about it it probably won't happen. We'll just shuffle in and out of the kitchen and grab something. But to sit down together and then also scheduled play we talked about that last podcast and again, if you're just going to wait to see when that might happen, I'm going to bet that it just won't but to have a scheduled meal, scheduled play, seems like that's always going to be helpful, don't you think yeah, absolutely, I think.

Speaker 2 26:30

I heard you guys say something too, that we have to model a lot of this behavior, and I was thinking about technology. How much do we have to model appropriate techno hygiene when it comes to kids who, because they learn from seeing us, so putting our phone down and giving them full attention, things like that.

Speaker 5 26:47

And if we go down that road, discussing, say, the child getting stuck into technology, well, rather than scolding, lecturing or shaming, it's like, okay, our job is to provide a better alternative. Sure, oh, that's good, yeah, and so I've watched the best of our house parents out here. They have very good boundaries with electronics in their home, not because they preach and lecture more, because they're out doing something better with their kids.

Speaker 2 27:18

Yeah, passion is contagious. Yes, if you can get excited about something. I think the kids will follow along with that.

Speaker 4 27:24

Well with technology, I think when I notice myself using my phone more than normal, I often ask myself what's going on here, and usually it's I'm stressed out, I'm overwhelmed, I'm feeling very tasked or whatever it may be. And I've had a time or two where my daughter has said something about me being on my phone and then I'll say to her you're right, I have been on my phone, I'm sorry, mommy's feeling overwhelmed or whatever it may be, and she's much more forgiving. But there's always a reason. We check out and check into something else, whether it's good or bad, right A phone or the outdoors, or whatever it may be. And the curiosity behind that makes me think of kind of what you were saying when we're caregiving, I think is super important.

Closing Thoughts and Next Episode Preview

Speaker 2 28:09

Well, it's been such a great discussion. You guys, I thank you so much, and thank you guys all out there for spending some time with us today. Don't avoid us next week when we'll discuss ambivalent attachment. Until then, remember you might have to loan out your frontal lobes today. Just make sure you remember to get them back.

Speaker 1 28:27

Thank you for listening to Brain-Based Parenting. We hope you enjoyed this show. If you would like more information about Cal Farley's Boys Ranch, are interested in employment, would like information about placing your child, or would like to help us help children by donating to our mission, please visit calfarleyorg. You can find us on all social media platforms by searching for Cal Farley's. Thank you for spending your time with us and have a blessed day.