Are You Still Suffering From Childhood Emotional Trauma?
Many adults who were abused, neglected, rejected, abandoned, or humiliated in childhood still feel like they are stuck in those wounded helpless “inner child” states and find adult life overwhelming. These inner child emotional mindsets will be permanently stored in our subconscious until we decide to replace the pain with a renewed state of mind.
Children are highly susceptible to emotional wounds, and once the damage is done, it is difficult to repair if you carry it into adulthood. When the trauma occurs early in life, children resort to an “escape” mindset; and they ultimately get stuck in the abused, helpless, wounded, victimized, unloved, sad, anxious, dysfunctional state-of-mind. As their physical body grows, this emotional damaged “child” state persists in the subconscious mind. It gets readily retriggered whenever they re-experience an event that in any way resembles the original negative situation that created it. If they perceive they are being rejected, for instance, they may regress into the wounded unwanted, scared, unloved, child who may feel sad, overly sensitive, needy, dependent, helpless, etc.
In other words they find themselves going in and out of trance as they attempt to live a normal life. At one moment they feel adult-like but when re-triggered into the child state they rapidly regress into a state of helplessness and vulnerability. I am sure you can imagine how this can severely disrupt one’s life and relationships.
If you have ever experienced this yourself you probably have never recognized how these are two significantly distinct and different states but you probably do recognize how out of control it makes you feel. Sadly too many people have so little awareness of what is taking place inside of them until it is too late and it literally destroy one’s life.
The only way to heal the inner child is to confront the inner issues and face them head on. We can’t fix what we can’t face. Take time to admit the abuse inflicted upon you, and talk with a trust friend about how it affected you. Talk to God and take it to Him in prayer. Create new behaviors (i.e., daily positive affirmations, join a support group, discover your purpose, set goals).
Life is short, and none of us can go back and make a new beginning, but we can all start today and make a brand new ending. You have a choice to plow new ground or continue to let the weeds grow!
If you are ready to take control of your life and live it to the fullest, contact me today for a complimentary Life Coaching Session.
For more in-depth assessments and life coaching articles and help, visit my website at www.chollowayhill.com or email me directly at cathy@chollowayhill.com
Article by:
Cathy Holloway Hill
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