My Thoughts on Spirituality and Attachment

I found myself rather confused when I read this concept in the assigned article. I have never thought about attachment theory as having anything to do with anything other than how a child attaches to his/her caregivers. If they are securely attached, they learn to trust themselves and feel confident and competent in the world. If they are not securely attached, they may be anxious a lot, resist any separation from their caregivers, and have difficulty connecting with others. I really do not see how this can be applied to a spiritual or religious feeling one has inside them.

          However, if we step back from the semantics for a moment, I can certainly see how feeling secure in your religious beliefs or your spirituality can have the effect of reducing stress and helping you cope. I don’t know that I would call that attachment, per se. Furthermore, having a social support system or a positive family support system can provide the same type of buffer between you and life’s struggles. On the other hand, but similar to the original idea of attachment, if one does not feel secure in their religion or spirituality, or doesn’t have a significant social support system set up or positive family support system set up, stress and difficulties in life may feel magnified.

          In my experiences, I never felt a secure or insecure attachment towards a religious belief, god or higher power. I was not raised going to synagogue or even being taught what it meant to be a Jew, like why we observed Passover or Yom Kippur, why we shouldn’t have bread on Passover or fast on Yom Kippur, etc. And I think that after a while, the idea of following those traditions and holidays just felt hypocritical to me. I never developed a feeling toward or true belief in a god so I don’t know what it would feel like to not have a secure attachment. But I believe that one does not have to have religious or spiritual beliefs to have a positive outlook on life, to understand their role in the world, to have morals, to have a purpose and goals and to look inside themselves to determine the best career course for them. In spite of the comments cited in the article to the contrary, I believe there are other ways that people can get through life’s stresses and recover from illnesses, etc.

Duffy, R. (2006). Spirituality, Religion, and Career Development: Current Status and Future Directions. The Career Development Quarterly, 55, 52-63.