HEALED PARENTING
“As the light faded in my eyes, I watched it fade in theirs.”
There is no beginning.
While we can’t heal by ourselves, we alone are responsible for our healing. Without commitment, conviction, and courage to dive into the depths of our own darkness, we will never know the full scope of who we are. We can work to break the cycle of abuse within families by beginning with healing ourselves.
Parents who are survivors of childhood abuse can find raising kids to be a lonely and confusing experience.
How many children grow up thinking they did something to deserve their parent’s rage? How can a child understand that you aren’t angry with them, but with the adults who failed to protect you? How can you connect with your children when you can’t connect with yourself?
PTSD, mental health issues, and unresolved trauma damage the neurological wiring in the body and brain, often leaving caretakers to behave as empty shells or explosive land mines. Left unaddressed, the cycle continues.
We think we can lie to our children as we lie to ourselves about who we really are. Yet, through osmosis, they absorb everything we don’t say or heal, only to one day reflect our deepest wounds back into our faces like the mirrors that they are.
Just as we pass on our abuse, we can pass on our recovery. Healing is generational, and healing yourself is the ultimate legacy.
It is not the responsibility of our children to carry the burden of a family’s toxic inheritance. Healed parenting focuses on taking accountability for what we need to change in ourselves. Through healing, we allow our children to break free from the destructive patterns by which we were raised.
We can’t hate men while raising men.
“Gender Equity and Reconciliation International (GERI) convenes groups of women and men, and people of all gender identities and expressions, to work closely together—not only to heal from the past, but also to begin re-writing the future of gender relations in the human family. This is the essence of what GERI is all about.”
“If you felt unwanted, unliked, rejected, hated and/or despised for a lengthy portion of your childhood, trauma may be deeply ingrained in your mind, soul and body.
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Resources
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The information on this page is not intended to be a substitution for diagnosis, treatment, or informed professional advice. You should not take any action or avoid taking action without consulting with a qualified mental health professional.
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