In a relational growth-facilitating environment optimally regulated attachment communications directly influence the maturation of both the postnatally maturing central nervous system (CNS) limbic system, which processes and regulates social-emotional stimuli, and the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which generates the somatic aspects of emotion. In contact to an emotionally responsive mother who down-regulates and repairs stressful negative arousal and up-regulates and amplifies positive arousal, the caregiver in a relational growth-inhibiting early environment induces traumatic states of enduring negative affect in the child and shows less interactive synchronous play with her infant. Because her attachment is weak, she provides little protection against other potential abusers of the infant. This caregiver is inaccessible and reacts to her infant’s expressions of emotions and stress inappropriately and/or rejectingly, and therefore shows minimal or unpredictable participation in the various types of arousal-regulating processes. Instead of modulating she induces extreme levels of stimulation and arousal, very high in abuse and/or very low in neglect. And because she provides no interactive repair, the infant’s intense negative states last for long periods of time. More specifically, the infant’s psychobiological reaction to trauma is comprised of two separate response patterns, hyperarousal and dissociation.