New! LIVE Masterclass with Q&A

Wired for Connection

The Attachment Roots of Addiction

Explore how early attachment experiences can shape addictive and compulsive behaviors—and how healing begins by restoring connection with ourselves, with others, and with something larger.

What If the Behavior Isn’t the Real Problem?

TraumaSolutions A person holding a lit cigarette in one hand and a glass of amber-colored liquid, likely alcohol, highlights the connection between smoking and drinking habits.

You promise yourself this time will be different.

You will stop drinking after one glass. Put the phone down. Go to bed on time. Stop checking their messages. Spend less. Work less. Stop reaching for the thing you already know is making life harder.

Yet despite insight, determination, and sincere efforts to change, the pattern returns.

It is easy to interpret this as a failure of discipline or willpower.

But what if the behavior is trying to meet a deeper need?

Addictive and compulsive patterns often develop as attempts to create relief, regulation, belonging, safety, or connection. A substance may quiet an overwhelmed nervous system. A relationship may temporarily soothe a fear of abandonment. Overwork, perfectionism, food, shopping, or endless scrolling may help us avoid feelings that once seemed too difficult to face alone.

These strategies may have begun as intelligent forms of adaptation.

But over time, the same strategies that once offered protection can create painful consequences, disconnection, and shame.

TraumaSolutions Man with curly hair and beard resting his chin on his arm, looking down with a sad or pensive expression, as if reflecting on a difficult connection or struggling with attachment.
TraumaSolutions Close-up of a person's face focusing on hazel eyes, with visible eyelashes, eyebrows, and light freckles on the skin, capturing a sense of deep connection in their gaze.

You promise yourself this time will be different.

Healing begins when we stop asking only:

“Why can’t I stop?”

And begin asking:

“What have I been trying to soothe, protect, or find through this behavior?”

Discover a more compassionate path toward healing—for yourself, someone you love, or those you support

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In This FREE, 90-Minute Live Masterclass, You’ll Learn...

In this live training, Dr. Grand shares his revolutionary approach to working trauma held in the body…

TraumaSolutions A boy in a white shirt sits at the bottom of wooden stairs, resting his head on his hand and looking down with a thoughtful expression, reflecting on the power of attachment and how we are all wired for connection.

1

How early attachment wounds can shape addictive patterns

Explore the hidden relationship between early attachment experiences, developmental trauma, loneliness, and the coping strategies we may reach for when we feel overwhelmed, disconnected, abandoned, or unsafe.

TraumaSolutions A man in a white shirt and loosened tie sits at a table, looking down with his head in one hand. An empty bottle and a can on the table hint at addiction, as he struggles with his thoughts in the quiet room.

2

Why addictive behaviors are often attempts to create safety or relief

Learn why addictive and compulsive patterns are not always failures of discipline, but may begin as adaptive attempts to create regulation, belonging, comfort, or protection.

TraumaSolutions A woman in a yellow dress and sunglasses sits on a bench outdoors, looking tired, her colorful shopping bags hinting at a possible shopping addiction.

3

How addiction can show up beyond substances

Understand how compulsive patterns can extend into codependency, relationships, food, work, spending, sex, perfectionism, technology, and other persistent ways of coping.

TraumaSolutions A man looks pensive in the foreground while a woman stands behind him with her hand on his shoulder, offering support and fostering connection during a difficult moment.

4

How reconnection supports meaningful change

Discover how shame can strengthen the cycle, why curiosity and self-compassion matter, and how reconnection with yourself, others, and something larger can support recovery.

You’ll also begin identifying what kind of support may be most appropriate for you, someone you love, or the people you serve.

Can’t join our session live?
Register anyway, and we’ll send you a free, limited-time replay.

TraumaSolutions Woman with long, curly blonde hair wearing a sleeveless red blouse smiles outdoors in natural light, radiating warmth and connection against a softly blurred background.
TraumaSolutions A red speech bubble with the word "NEW!" in bold white capital letters, highlighting the latest insights on healing and understanding the body’s response to attachment trauma.

Learn LIVE with Rose Viggiano

Includes Teaching and Q&A!

Register to Save Your Spot!

Wired for Connection

The Attachment Roots of Addiction

Tuesday, July 21, 2026 @ 11 am MT | 1 pm ET

2026 Rose Viggiano Masterclass Registration
Subscribe

Learn LIVE with Rose Viggiano

A Compassionate Framework for Understanding Attachment, Addiction, and Reconnection

A live masterclass exploring the attachment roots of addiction and a pathway back to safety, connection, and belonging.

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In this all-new live masterclass hosted by Dr. Diane Poole Heller, Rose Viggiano explores how attachment wounds and early relational disconnection can shape the nervous system’s vulnerability to addictive, compulsive, and codependent behaviors. 

Drawing from attachment theory, addiction research, trauma healing, nervous system science, and nearly 25 years of lived recovery experience, Rose will offer a framework that is both clinically informed and deeply human. 

TraumaSolutions Outline of two hands holding a heart with a smaller heart inside, set against a light blue background—symbolizing how we are wired for connection.

Attachment & Early Relational Disconnection

Understand how early experiences of disconnection can shape our need for control, soothe pain, and find belonging.

TraumaSolutions A simple green outline illustration of a human brain, viewed from above, centered on a light background, symbolizing connection.

Nervous System Patterns & Protection

Explore how the nervous system learns to protect us and how those protective patterns can become barriers to connection.

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A Roadmap Toward Reconnection

Learn a practical, compassionate framework for moving beyond shame and isolation toward safety, trust, and meaningful connection.

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Who Should Join Us?

TraumaSolutions A man with curly hair leans his forehead on his arm while looking out a window with a serious expression, reflecting on the complexity of attachment.
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Meet Your Instructors

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Rose Viggiano

Relationship Coach, Attachment Specialist, Creator of The Awakening Relationships Method

The opposite of addiction is not simply sobriety. It is connection.

Rose Viggiano is a Master Relationship Coach, attachment specialist, and creator of The Awakening Relationships Method, helping individuals and couples heal old wounds, understand the patterns that keep connection feeling difficult, and build relationships that feel secure.

Drawing on nearly 25 years of personal recovery and more than a decade of client work, she helps people understand the attachment patterns that shape their relationships, addictions, and sense of connection.

Rose is a Certified Master Level Relationship Coach, Relational Life Therapy Couples Coach, DARe Practitioner and assistant, and has training in IFS, Compassionate Inquiry, and Somatic Experiencing. Her work combines lived experience, attachment science, and practical tools to help people build secure, connected relationships.

TraumaSolutions A smiling older woman with blonde hair wears a red top and a colorful patterned scarf, sitting indoors against a neutral background.

Diane Poole Heller PhD

International Speaker, Author, and Teaching Expert in Adult Attachment Theory and Trauma Resolution

When our nervous system recognizes security on a deep, embodied level, our capacity for love, trust, and connection expands exponentially.

Diane Poole Heller PhD is an internationally recognized speaker, author, and teaching expert in the field of adult attachment theory and trauma resolution.

Her signature approach—DARe (Dynamic Attachment Re-patterning experience)—provides therapists and individuals with relevant skills and practical exercises that facilitate healing from attachment and trauma wounds.

Her work with adult attachment has forged a path for adults with childhood attachment injuries to develop Secure Attachment Skills (SAS) that lead to more connected and fulfilling adult relationships.

She has authored several books, including the widely acclaimed The Power of Attachment: How to Create Deep and Lasting Intimate Relationships. Her expertise in trauma healing has supported survivors, helpers, and families affected by events such as 9/11, Columbine, and other school shootings.

Through various training programs, books, lectures and her own work as a clinical therapist, Dr. Heller has helped a countless number of people in their healing journey towards experiencing greater intimacy, wholeness and more fulfilling relationships.

She believes that when we heal ourselves first, we heal our families, our communities and the world as a whole.

TraumaSolutions Woman with long, curly blonde hair wearing a sleeveless red blouse smiles outdoors in natural light, radiating warmth and connection against a softly blurred background.
TraumaSolutions A red speech bubble with the word "NEW!" in bold white capital letters, highlighting the latest insights on healing and understanding the body’s response to attachment trauma.

Learn LIVE with Rose Viggiano

Includes Teaching and Q&A!

Register to Save Your Spot!

Wired for Connection

The Attachment Roots of Addiction

Tuesday, July 21, 2026 @ 11 am MT | 1 pm ET

2026 Rose Viggiano Masterclass Registration
Subscribe