Many of us didn’t grow up with emotionally attuned parents. We were told to stop crying. That we were overreacting. That our fear, pain, or sadness wasn’t real enough to matter. So we learned to shut down. To doubt our …
Tag: mentalhealthawareness
Parentification and IFS: Healing the Parts That Had to Grow Up Too Fast
When you’ve been parentified, you grow up fast. Your needs get buried. Your inner child gets quiet. And protector parts take over — keeping everything together, at a cost. In IFS, we see these protector parts clearly: They developed for …
When We Have Emotionally Immature Parents
When we’re raised by emotionally immature parents, we often grow up in one of two ways: We either struggle to regulate our emotions — reacting, withdrawing, or feeling overwhelmed… Or we become parentified early — the “responsible one,” always managing …
It’s Our Choice: Punish Ourselves or Be the Parent We Never Had
“When we talk to ourselves, we have the opportunity to punish ourselves or be the parent we never had. It’s our choice.”— Jennifer Nurick This was a hard one for me. For years, my inner voice was harsh. I didn’t …
The Inner Child: The Key to Intimacy, Healing, and Inner Wisdom
“The Inner Child lives within all of us, it’s the part of us that feels emotions and is playful, intuitive, and creative. Usually hidden under our grown-up personas, the Inner Child holds the key to intimacy in relationships, physical and …
Family Secrets: How Carrying a Secret That Wasn’t Yours Can Shape Your Childhood
Did you grow up carrying a secret that wasn’t yours? When a child is asked to hold an adult’s secret — like an affair or a family betrayal — it can fracture their sense of safety, belonging, and play. In …