Could this explain your trauma experience?
“There is no growth without real feeling. Children not loved for who they are do not learn how to love themselves. Their growth is an exercise in pleasing others, not in expanding through experience. As adults, they must learn to nurture their own lost child.” — Marion Woodman.
Last year, I wrote an article about child abuse, specifically dispelling the notion that child abuse is “just” physical in nature.
I wrote about how child abuse can also look emotional, psychological, verbal and/or neglectful in nature and provided examples of what this can look like.
In today’s post, I want to introduce an idea of what can result from the complexity of this child abuse, particularly if the abuse takes place over a period of time and in the context of a relationship with a parent or guardian.
This idea is called complex relational trauma and it can be deeply impactful to children and the adults they become. I want to provide a brief overview of what complex relational trauma is, how it happens, what the symptoms and impacts of this may be, and share a curated list of resources you may want to explore further if you identify with complex relational trauma.