Religious attachment styles are similar to the infant attachment styles discovered by Bowlby and Ainsworth. Bowlby and Ainsworth formulated theories and experiments that explained the different attachment styles that infants have with their mothers: secure attachment, avoidant attachment, resistant attachment, and disorganized/disoriented attachment (Berk, 2012). Likewise, the religious attachment styles explain how an individual believes and how attached an individual is to God. The religious attachment styles are: secure attachment, insecure-ambivalent attachment, and insecure-avoidant attachment. Similar to secure attachment in Bowlby’s theory, secure attachment to God refers to individuals that are confident in God being there, responding to them, and always available to them as they go through life learning; they are secure in the fact that during difficult times, God will comfort them and protect them from harm. They feel secure developing and having an intimate relationship with God and are secure in the fact that God loves them; making them more able to cope in difficult situations (Cooper, Bruce, Harmam, & Boccaccini, …show more content…
Genia (1997) conducted a psychological study to analyze and examine the effects of spiritual growth and maturity on mental health and coping with trauma; Reinert and Bloomingdale (1999) conducted an analysis of Genia’s findings and found evidence to support its validity (Reinert & Bloomingdale, 1999). The analysis supported the beliefs and findings that spiritual maturity and mental health are inversely related (Reinert & Bloomingdale, 1999). This means that as one’s spirituality and relationship with God increases, mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and stress decreases. Reinert and Bloomingdale (1999) stated the following:
Counselors can capitalize on clients ' resources and strengthen their resilience by tapping into clients ' spiritual framework and helping them make sense of traumatic experiences, refraining the events in more positive ways (Maton (1989). In addition, such spiritual work in counseling is potent, because when a person has a meaningful framework to interpret reality and when a person perceives he or she is valued or cared for by God, psychological distress is eased and self-esteem is enhanced (Reinert & Bloomingdale,