#so it was less ''oh shit I've been emotionally *abused* since middle school'' | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

feral-and-or-horny · 2 years ago

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So I was talking about my relationship with my mother to my therapist the other day, and this woman says "do you know what emotional abuse is? How would you define it?"

And because I've taken a basic psych course, I tell her I'd define it as "a situation where a person's emotional needs are consistently being neglected, shamed, or not properly met."

After further conversation, she said "social anxiety like yours usually roots in some childhood trauma, like extended neglect of your emotional needs from a family member or members." And then she just sat and nodded as she watched me have a very "Oh shit" breakthrough

#she was actually great at helping me reconfigure my reaction #so it was less ''oh shit I've been emotionally *abused* since middle school''#and more ''oh shit I just figured out some trauma and now we can work to make things better''#also she was very obviously using my need for approval to help me through it #ahe kept telling me she was ao proud when her clients had breakthroughs #and told me she was impressed at my emotional awareness #but yeah #she's definitely using my need for approval to positively reinforce healthy thoughts/thinking habits lmao #my post

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