Quick answers about attachment styles What are attachment styles?Attachment styles describe patterns in how people experience closeness, trust, emotional needs, and connection in relationships. Where did attachment theory come from?Attachment theory was originally developed by psychiatrist John Bowlby and later expanded through research by psychologist Mary Ainsworth. Their work explored how early relationships with caregivers influence emotional development and adult relationship patterns. Can attachment styles affect adult relationships?Yes. Attachment patterns can influence communication, conflict, emotional regulation, reassurance-seeking, and fear of rejection or distance. Can attachment styles change?Attachment patterns are not fixed. Therapy, healthy relationships, and increased self-awareness can help people develop more secure ways of relating. What therapy helps attachment issues?Depending on the person, therapies such as CBT, ACT, Schema

By Elise Skinner, Clinical Psychologist Sleep is often framed as a personal habit — something we should optimise if only we were more organised or less stressed. Yet for many women, sleep difficulties are not a failure of effort. They reflect the interaction of biology, hormonal transitions, caregiving roles, and social expectations that quietly deprioritise women’s rest. For a long time, women’s sleep has received less attention in research, similar to many areas of women’s health. Earlier sleep studies often focused on males and assumed the findings would apply to everyone, while the hormonal changes and life stages women experience were seen as too complex to study. As women’s health has become a higher priority, research has begun to better