If you grew up with caregivers who were critical, emotionally unavailable, inconsistent or overwhelmed themselves, you likely learned early on how to adapt. Maybe that meant becoming easy, helpful or invisible. Maybe it meant being the emotional container for everyone else. Maybe it meant tuning out your own needs to keep the peace. You figured out how to survive - often by abandoning parts of yourself.
Relational trauma can look like emotional neglect. Sometimes it looks like a parent who was physically present but emotionally absent. Sometimes it’s growing up in a household where your needs weren’t allowed or, worse, punished. And sometimes it’s the confusing mix of being both loved and hurt by the same people. It can also include experiences like enmeshment, parentification, manipulation or abuse. Whether the wounds were loud or quiet, healing them means stepping out of survival mode and learning to relate to yourself and others in a new way. A way that’s rooted in self-trust, emotional safety, and mutual care.
Learning to reparent your emotional world by creating space and compassion for the parts of you that had to grow up too fast, stay small or shut down to stay safe. These younger parts often take the wheel in adulthood by shaping how you protect yourself, how you connect, and how you expect to be treated. In therapy, we begin to notice when they’re in charge, and help your adult self step back in with clarity and care.