I pursued him most of my life. Advice columns are dedicated to him. My therapy practice sees many clients attempting to loosen themselves from his grip. He is ever-elusive and ever-intriguing, and possesses a mysteriously irresistible appeal. He is The Unavailable Man.

The Unavailable Man comes in different packaging, depending on the nature of his pursuer. He might be The Married Man or The Alcoholic. Perhaps he is The Narcissist or The Loner. He could be a combination of these. But the underlying trait shared by all his mutations is that he is ultimately emotionally distant, unreliable in his feelings, and unable to commit to the pursuer the way she would like.

I am not quite certain when my pattern began, but by 11 years old I was writing longingly in a journal about being rejected by the boy I had a crush on for two years (who had never given me an ounce of indication he had any pre-pubescent reciprocal interest in me). At 24 I overlooked multiple confessions from a man who lied about his age, his job, and his marital status. When I turned 30 my boyfriend was actually in love with someone else. Pretty spectacular track record, right?

Some might argue that The Unavailable Man simply has not found the right woman to be available to, which might be the case. My primary interest is not in what makes The Unavailable Man tick, but rather, why certain women seek him out, and then quite often continue to seek him out, repeatedly, without any conscious understanding of what they are doing, or why.

While the specific reasons vary from woman to woman, the tendency to unconsciously and compulsively repeat relationship patterns is nothing new. In fact, it was given a name 100 years ago by Dr. Sigmund Freud — repetition compulsion. Repetition compulsion is considered to be one of many common defense mechanisms. When a person engages in behaviors of repetition compulsion, she is unconsciously attempting to revise and resolve a dysfunctional aspect of a primary, or central, past relationship. Most loyal followers of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory believe the primary past relationship one attempts to alter and make a complete success is that between child and parent (I tend to believe that the pattern can originate from a variety of primary significant relationships and does not have to be parental in nature). Since no parent can fulfill a child’s every need regardless of how much they may try to be present and available, inevitably there are times in which a child is left with his or her needs neglected. These incidents of neglect can range in severity from a mother not anticipating her baby’s desire to be comforted and held, to more significant behaviors of neglect such as not providing adequate nourishment or safety. According to Freud’s theory, the child internalizes the impact of these traumatic experiences (regardless of how minimal an outsider may believe them to be) and believes intuitively that she is at fault. In an attempt to control and master her own experience within this relationship, the child concludes that if he or she were different in some way – perhaps less needy or more intelligent – the neglectful experiences would cease, and the painful implications of these experiences would never be felt again (of course, all of this is negotiated by the child – and eventually the adult – outside the realms of her conscious awareness). However, since the child is not actually at fault for these experiences, nothing she does can prevent them. But she continues to try, all the way into adulthood, choosing significant relationships such as boyfriends and husbands who somehow perpetuate these patterns of dysfunction, all the while clinging to the hope that things will turn out differently and she will finally be “good enough” to have all her needs met. The Unavailable Man is the perfect potential partner for this woman, since no matter how she behaves or tries to change herself to fit his mold, the distance between them will never remit.

But there is good news. Women do not have to play out this pattern for the rest of their lives. We can develop awareness and understanding of what we are doing and why we are doing it, and then make the conscious decision to change. This process is often difficult and uncomfortable, but the payoff is hopefully that we stop getting into knee-jerk reaction relationships and instead choose relationships where we honor a more fully realized version of ourselves. My suggestion to begin this process is to first “date yourself” and then to date “beyond your ‘type.’”

To date yourself, you will invest in getting to know yourself the way you usually invest in getting to know the Unavailable Man. For many, this takes a long time since we are so used to adapting to how we perceive the Unavailable Man would like us to be. One woman I know realized after dating herself that she actually hated living in Los Angeles, and was only there because of her ex-boyfriend (currently she lives in Minneapolis and is loving her new life). A great way to begin to get to know yourself is by using the questions in a book such as 1001 Questions To Ask Before You Get Married (by Monica Mendez Leahy), which is designed for partners to ask each other. I recommend, however, that you ask these questions of yourself because you may learn you actually don’t know the answers! Keeping a journal of your feelings and incorporating more quiet time where you are not distracted from yourself by excessive stimulation or other people are two more ways you can delve more deeply into the truth of who you are, examine your usual relationship patterns (and their possible origins), and discover the qualities you seek in both yourself and an ideal partner. Once you feel you have a handle on your authentic self you may also notice you actually really like who you are. That’s when you will be more prepared to again start dating others.

Dating beyond your “type” means you will probably have to overlook men who initially attract you (as these are probably covert versions of the Unavailable Man), and instead look at men beyond your immediate lust list. At first, the experience may feel a bit like you are intentionally ignoring an itch that wants to be scratched, but if you stick with it by choosing to meet men who possess the personal characteristics you admire rather than simply gravitating towards those you customarily choose (and if you jump ship once you begin to notice signs he might actually fit the Unavailable Man bill after all), it is likely to pay off. For these are the potential husbands and not the one-night stands.

Before we started dating, I knew my husband had all the qualities I wanted in a life partner. I also knew I wasn’t quite ready to go the distance since I still had mistakes to make and work to do on myself (including plenty of therapy to help me unravel the patterns which had gotten me so hurt in the past). Luckily, he was available and interested when I decided to make my move, and the rest is history. Everyone’s path is different, but I feel strongly that through the development of insight and a commitment to change, every woman can acquire tools necessary to un-love The Unavailable Man and instead, learn to love herself and a true potential life partner.