As a kid, were you allowed to be yourself? Was your curiosity nourished or discouraged? Did your family of origin treat you as an individual or were you expected to conform to their standards? Were you given labels such as “shy,” “difficult,” “weird,” “too much,” or worse?
Many of us grew up in households where our personalities were not allowed. Period. We were given labels if we stepped out of line and were expected to follow the rules. We weren’t given space to explore ourselves, let alone our backyards.
We may think because it’s in the past it doesn’t matter, but that simply isn’t true. How we see ourselves as adults is often rooted in how we were treated, or mistreated, as children.
Childhood trauma doesn’t stay in childhood—it shows up in the patterns we repeat, the relationships we choose, and the way we talk to ourselves decades later.
Healing Childhood Wounds & Developmental Trauma with me looks like:
A safe space to finally be yourself. Cry for the child that didn’t get what they needed. Scream for the adult still searching. Laugh at the absurdity that can be life.
Naming patterns. Where did certain behaviors come from? Whose voice is driving you today? We’ll trace the thread back as far as it goes, through your own history and the generational patterns passed down before you, so you can clearly see what’s yours and what isn’t.
Attachment work. How are you showing up in relationships, romantic and platonic? Your attachment style—how you learned if people were safe or not—shows up whether you recognize it or not.
Mindfulness. What thoughts run rampant in your mind? Are they causing you anxiety or is there a benefit? We’ll learn how to gently and safely sit with ourselves and let those thoughts be without letting them take the wheel.
EMDR. If appropriate for your treatment, we’ll use bilateral stimulation to help your brain reprocess how these wounds are being held.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. What labels and beliefs do you have about yourself that may have come from your family? How true are they? What new beliefs can we begin to install?
What wounds are you still carrying?