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October 4, 2025 at 5:36 am #450555
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ParticipantOh Alessa, I’m so sorry, that must be hard 🙁 My condolences 🙏
Take your time, and take care ❤️
October 4, 2025 at 12:11 am #450553Tee
ParticipantHi Alessa,
something else has just occurred to me:
I was just reflecting on some of the ways I’m not there for myself as much as I am for others and processing those feelings.
I do need to work on self-compassion still. I’m trying my best.
I’ve just watched a video yesterday, explaining that people pleasing and overly caring for others at our own expense can also be a fawn response, i.e. a trauma response. Sometimes that’s how the child tries to please their bullying/aggressive parent, so to reduce the risk of bullying/being hit/being yelled at, etc. It’s a survival mechanism.
In the video I watched, the woman (who is both a trauma therapist and a survivor of childhood trauma) explains that it’s not easy for the person to simply “stand up for themselves” and set boundaries – because subconsciously it might feel like a threat. And so even if the person might consciously know that they need to stand up for themselves more, their inner child is too scared to do it. And that’s why it’s so hard to change that habit.
Anyway, I thought to share this with you, in case you find it useful ❤️
October 3, 2025 at 11:48 am #450542Tee
ParticipantHi Alessa,
No, not at all. It wasn’t you. I was just reflecting on some of the ways I’m not there for myself as much as I am for others and processing those feelings.
Oh I see. Good that you’re noticing if there’s an imbalance… Yeah, sometimes in an attempt to please others, we end up hurting ourselves, working against ourselves. And yes, the antidote is more self-compassion.❤️
I think the Bible might be talking about the same thing here: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” It sounds like the instruction to love both ourselves and others. The Bible calls it the second greatest commandment. And to me, it does seem like one of the preconditions for peace and understanding among individuals, and on a larger scale, among nations too. For a peaceful world.
Also, there’s the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you”. I think if most people would respect that, the world would be a much better place… sorry for rambling, but sometimes the solution is so simple, and yet, so far away 🙁
Ah well, I’m sure you’ve heard of the phrase saving face before. I think it’s basically about communicating with people without wounding their ego. There are some great techniques out there for when people disagree.
It’s basically validating how you can see why they have a perspective. Giving an example about how you or someone you know might have had a similar perspective. And then describe how you or someone you know came to change their perspective.
I’ve heard of saving face, but not in the context of saving face on behalf of another person. But I think I know what you mean: being able to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes, or understand their perspective. But then you also add another element – which serves to expand that perspective and take into account some factors which they might not have taken into account before.
So you kind of understand their perspective, but then you build on it and expand it, and you arrive at a different conclusion or a different standpoint than their original standpoint, right?
So it’s not confrontational but inclusive, sort of… because it doesn’t invalidate the person’s opinion, but it presents new elements that may lead them to change their opinion, right?
It’s not manipulative either, it’s just presenting a fuller, more comprehensive picture, so that the person might decide for themselves. Yeah, that sounds neat 🙂
Looking forward to your post about belonging. ❤️
October 3, 2025 at 12:59 am #450527Tee
ParticipantDear Milda,
Wow, insight about first developing inner boundaries before setting the external ones cought me.
Glad it was helpful. It was actually something I’ve heard in one of Jerry Wise’s videos. I really suggest you watch it too, because it talks about exactly the problem you’re facing: too much caring, and how that’s actually enabling, not true caring.
There are actually 2 videos with the topic of internal boundaries, both on Jerry Wise’s youtube channel:
“Narcissistic family: One Thing You Must Do to Set Boundaries with Them”
“Narcissistic Family: The Secret to Having Solid Boundaries with Them”
He talks about codependent caring, which is actually enabling and emotional enmeshment. It stems from compulsion (because we’re expected to do it), rather than from our free will and the goodness of our heart.
He says that codependent people care too much, and so they have to become more “selfish”, which simply means start taking care of their own needs more. For an empath, becoming more selfish is actually a move in the right direction.
Narcissistic parents will of course tell us that thinking about ourselves and our needs is selfish, but that’s not true: it’s simply self-compassion and self-care, to which we’re all entitled to.
Jerry Wise says that the cure for lack of internal boundaries is self-love. We need to start loving ourselves unconditionally – which will break the pattern of conditional love, that we’ve received from our parents.
We need to start loving ourselves even if we don’t feel like meeting our parents’ needs. We need to start telling ourselves that we’re a good person, worthy of love and respect – even if we refuse the role of the emotional caretaker and the “family empath”, which they’ve imposed on us. We need to start loving ourselves unconditionally, in order to overwrite the false family programming.
When you say:
Parents are projecting on me their decision about when I al a good daughter, when I am a bad one, which behavior is acceptable and approved, which is not.
That’s conditional love. That’s them encoding in you a false definition of what a good, lovable, worthy person is.
But those projections are all that I know. If they believe I am bad, because I did not soothe their emotional problems and did not solve their issues, how then I should find facts for myself, that in MY REALITY, I am not?
By giving yourself unconditional love. That will help you redefine that false definition of what a good, caring, loving person means.
Self-love and self-care. Those are 2 categories you’ve never received in your childhood (or beyond): neither true love, nor care. You were only “loved” when you’ve abandoned yourself. And you’ve never actually received care, except in form of physical nurturance, if I understood well.
So your inner child is starving for love and care. We can’t thrive without that. It’s like a flower without water and sunshine. You need to start giving yourself water and sunshine. You need to start giving yourself care: both for your body and your soul.
Imagine you’re in a spa. You need to start pampering yourself. What is something that makes you feel good, in which your senses enjoy? Give yourself that.
Do what feels good – not because your parents think it’s good, but because you feel it’s good and feeds your soul.
What do you say?
October 2, 2025 at 12:18 pm #450514Tee
ParticipantHi Jana,
good to hear from you! ❤️
It’s wonderful that you live in a remote place, with plenty of peace and quiet… an ideal environment for finding peace and calm within 😊
I agree – my three siblings and I are completely different, both in character and appearance, and we all have the same parents. We also each have a completely different relationship with both of them.
Yeah, I can imagine. Since no child is the same, I think there is a unique dynamic that develops between the parents and each child. And perhaps if the parents have a lot of unresolved issues, maybe they react more negatively to one child than the other. Although I don’t know, that’s something that’s occurred me just now, so it’s just a thought.
What I do know is that narcissistic parents do treat their children differently, so one becomes a golden child, another a scapegoat. So with narcissistic parents, the parents make an unfair distinction between the children.
With other parents, I guess it doesn’t happen, but still, one child might perceive that e.g. mom’s behavior was hurtful, while their sibling might say that mom was very loving. I guess that’s both because each child has different sensitivities, so what is triggering for one isn’t a problem for another. And also, the parent might be more patient with one child than the other because of their own unresolved issues, due to which they inadvertently treat one child differently than the other.
Anyway, these are just my musings. As a single child, I can hardly be called an expert on this 🙂 So I’d love to hear what you have to say about this inter-family dynamic…
I was afraid that a psychologist or psychiatrist would give me pills and that would be the end of me. Pills don’t solve the causes of trauma. I know that my social phobia was a traumatic reaction to bullying, especially beatings. I had many very painful and humiliating memories of being beaten up in public and no one helping me. 💔 On the contrary, some children even wished it on me or laughed at me. Our school was unfortunately very sick. There were a lot of neglected children. The boys were very aggressive.
I’m very sorry about this, Jana. This is horrible what happened to you. Specially that there was no one to come to your rescue 🙁
So you didn’t really have too much support from teachers, I guess? How about your parents, if I may ask? Did they know about the bullying?
I understand you didn’t want to go to a psychiatrist, because they do tend to prescribe pills. They don’t do much psychotherapy, as far as I know. Psychologist is different, they don’t prescribe medications…
But it’s wonderful that you’ve found what works for you: EFT.
I started EFT therapy (emotional freedom technique by Gary Craig) after I graduated high school. It’s a lot about working with emotions and sensations in the body that memories trigger. Today, these memories don’t bother me anymore, they don’t evoke anything in me, for me it’s a sign that the worst is over…
For a long time I couldn’t get rid of the body trembling – it was my body’s reaction. It kind of went away on its own, only when I really processed the pain in depth around the age of 5, when the bullying started. The healer (EFT coach) helped me with it.
I’m really happy for you that you don’t have body trembling anymore. That’s a huge achievement! And also that those traumatic memories don’t cause any major disruption in your life anymore. It’s a sign that you’ve healed and processed most of it, which is amazing ❤️
but given how it was and how long it took, I can’t just erase some of the scars… As you wrote… conditioning…. maybe now it’s about having compassion and care for these scars
Sure, you don’t want to experience similar pain again, and so you’re sensitive (and want to protect yourself) whenever there’s anything that reminds you of that past dynamic. It’s okay to have compassion for those scars… you deserve to be safe and protected ❤️
Someone recently wrote to me, when we were discussing the inner child, that they go into psychosis when they return to childhood. So it’s very important to have someone to help us with this, certainly at least in the beginning, when our condition is still very serious.
Yes, definitely. Trauma healing is difficult and requires special training. If the therapist is uninformed or not skilled enough, they may retraumatize the person.
And I guess there needs to be a minimal container of Self (we need to be in touch with our compassionate, observer Self) before we can do any self-healing that involves the inner child. We need to have a safe container before going back into those old, painful memories. The therapist is ideally the person who gives us that safe container at first. And little by little, we start developing that container for ourselves…
It seems EFT helped you develop that container, and you’re now able to work with yourself, to calm yourself down, come back to your center quickly, and be very aware of your internal process. Way to go, Jana, keep doing the good work! ❤️
Now, I focus a lot on mindfulness, meditation, and various simple exercises with my inner child. It comforts me and with thorough practice – every day – and allowing myself to be calm, I feel better and more grounded.
Do you want me to share some of these “exercises” with you in the future? It’s nothing difficult or special. Really. I just came up with my own things that work for me.
Yes, absolutely! Please do share some of those exercises. I think working with our inner child can be truly transformative, so yes, please 😊❤️
October 2, 2025 at 10:37 am #450510Tee
ParticipantHi Alessa,
happy to hear from you ❤️
Sorry, at first I didn’t realise that you’d left a message here. Then I had to process some emotions to figure out what to say.
Oh, have I said something that triggered you? If there’s anything you want to share, please do. I’m willing to listen ❤️
I try my best, but it isn’t easy. Especially in person. Negative thoughts, fears can get in the way. It is hard work to try and stay calm.
Oh yes, it’s an art to stay calm when we feel upset and triggered. I think your strategy is the best:
Sometimes I retreat to process and understand my feelings. Figure out the best way to handle a situation?
Yes, definitely. Better sleep on it, understand our feelings and then respond, than say something that makes things worse. I guess silence is golden, sometimes 🙂 specially until we’ve calmed down and can respond from a more balanced place…
I’ve been learning from you too. I think you’re right in that I do let things lie too much sometimes. It is hard to balance. You inspired me to try for myself, as much as I try for other people. Perhaps give some people less?
I’m glad I’ve inspired you. It means we’ve inspired each other 🙂
I remember you said that sometimes you’re more worried about other people’s needs than your own, that sometimes you care for others at your own expense. And I think that’s the case of having a strong sense of compassion, but not so strong self-compassion. Whereas for optimal functioning, we need both compassion and self-compassion. If we lean to either side, we become either selfish, or self-abandoning. Neither is good. So I’m glad you’re now honoring your own needs more ❤️
I have been learning recently about saving face. It led to learning about some interesting communication techniques. I’ve also been learning about belonging. I think anxiety gets in my way a lot.
Saving face… that sounds intriguing! 🙂 I’d love to hear about it some more, if you’d like to share… as well as about belonging ❤️
Otherwise I’m fine, thank you, really appreciating what I’ve learned (and what we’ve all learned) from this experience with conflict. For me, it’s been eye opening and transformative.. and I’m still soaking in everything 🙂
October 2, 2025 at 4:24 am #450494Tee
ParticipantHi Jana,
So the right thing to do is not to do anything. Just
go home to yourself and practice mindful breathing in order to be
your best. Because if you have enough tranquility, calm, and
peace, the insight will come as to what is the best thing to say or
do to help the situation.Very true… ❤️ When we have calmed down, we can see things more clearly. In that calm, tranquil and mindful space, we also have access to our intuition, “the still, small voice”, which can guide us as to what is best to do in a given situation.
October 2, 2025 at 1:38 am #450492Tee
ParticipantDear Milda,
thank you for your kind words. I am happy to communicate with you too ❤️
I do not want to run/hide from them. I want to be assertive with them, to say no when I want to, to state boundaries, to end the call on my terms and to do everything, I was never able to do. Only this will give me strenght and ability to live my life to the fulliest. Not talking for X period will only make me postpone the real deal. The real change that needs to happen.
You’re right, Milda, that the best would be, on the long run, to develop inner strength and determination, which will allow you not to feel guilty even if your parents guilt-trip you (which they will), and not fall back into the old patterns, but manage to keep your boundaries.
In order to set external boundaries and be able to keep them, we need to first develop inner boundaries. You need to be clear within yourself that their accusations are not true, that their view of you (as someone who is obliged to cater to their needs at all costs, even if it goes against your own well-being) is NOT reality. You need to develop that clarity within yourself before you can actually set boundaries with confidence and without feeling guilty.
Years of conditioning have made you accept your parent’s false reality and their false image of you. Where you are a bad daughter for not obeying their wishes, for not abandoning yourself to please them. This false reality needs to go.
And of course, it requires deep, transformational healing. It’s not something you can fix easily. But that would be the goal: to develop a new, healthy image of yourself, based on the truth of who you are, not the false reality your parents have been projecting onto you.
You said that whenever you tried to set boundaries, you were shamed and guilt-tripped:
During my whole life, when I had situations where I said “no” and my parents guilt tripped me for that, said something shameful, insulting
You said this about your mother:
Her fight will include all of the biggest buttons in me- through guilt tripping, making me a bad daughter. I believe this small segment about the guilt tripping for grandmother shows the way she behaves. And she can do much more un order to soothe her anxiety about my behavior.
Which tells me that she is capable of saying pretty hurtful things to you, in order to make you do what she wants. Would that be true?
My emotional needs were never met. I was emotionally neglected, dealt with my problems alone, couldn’t share them, because I knew that reactions would be either no interest or blaming that I’m too sensitive/should not be scared etc. But when it came to parents- I always searched for ways to meet their emotional needs UNCONDITIONALLY. But meeting my needs by them was always conditional. Always. And conditions were not on my side, so I was left alone with my problems and my need for safety, acceptance and love.
Is this how both of your parents reacted to you expressing needs or sharing something that was bothering you? Did you feel that both of them had no interest in it and/or blamed you for being too sensitive? Because that kind of behavior (neglecting or denying the child’s feelings, blaming the child instead of soothing them), as well as conditional love that they were giving you – is typical for narcissistic parents.
And I think that too plays a role in deciding what the best strategy of dealing with them would be. I think that at this point it wouldn’t be the best idea to write them an honest letter, baring your soul, expressing your vulnerability, because it may be used against you, and may cause you even more pain.
You said they want answers and explanations. You can tell them that you need some time to gather your thoughts and come back to your center, because you feel quite overwhelmed at the moment. That you need some time away from everyday stress, which you will use for self-care and recharging your batteries, and that you would appreciate if they would respect that.
If I were you, I wouldn’t be too honest with them at this point and bare my soul completely. I’d be more vague. You can still write those letters to yourself, but don’t send them as of yet, because as I said, it may end up causing you more pain than relief at this point.
Let me know what you think?
September 30, 2025 at 9:00 am #450433Tee
ParticipantHi Peter,
I wouldn’t describe myself as someone with a rich inner life aimed at spending as much time there as possible. I’m not sure how that impression came about, and when I have time, I’ll revisit what I wrote to see where the gaps might be for that impression to arise.
Well, I think it’s because in your posts, you’ve been putting more focus on the inner experience vs. the outer, and you’ve been expressing it repeatedly, even in your latest post:
Your definition of passivity as the absence of necessary action is valid, especially from an external, outcome-oriented perspective. But I’m pointing toward something more interior.
Also here:
I’m finding it interesting that I find myself leaning in to inner experience and even further, non-duality as I move further into the second half of life.
You tend to lean into the outer, objective experience of conflict – what was said, what needs to be addressed. While I tend to lean into the inner, subjective experience – what was felt, what shifted, what resisted. Both of us I think caught in the loop of – ‘yes but’ the outer experience…. ‘yes but’ inner experience…
So, that’s why 🙂
That’s why Zafar doesn’t suggest staying in every conversation at all costs. He speaks too discernment, the wisdom to know when to step back, and the courage to do so without shame. “Not all silence is surrender,” he says. “Some silence is a candle lit for yourself.”
Yes, sometimes it’s best not to say anything, because our words will be rejected or ridiculed, and it’s simply futile. Sometimes it’s better to stay silent after a provocation or a rude comment – because even though our first, knee-jerk reaction might be to respond “in kind”, we don’t want to engage from that level, and so we refrain from responding. And sometimes, we need to pause and examine why we’re triggered, and so silence is “a candle lit for ourselves” (as Zafar says, “A way to see your own wound before you try to see theirs.“).
Layla stood up for herself, which was brave. But she also felt unsettled afterward. Not because she spoke, but because she lost her center in the heat of the moment. Her journey isn’t about choosing between speaking or withdrawing, it’s about learning to respond from a place of stillness, even when the rhetoric flares. To be accountable for what is hers and release what isn’t, without defense or sense of righteousness. Without losing her center.
Agreed…
Sometimes, as you said, withdrawal is the wisest choice. But even then, it can be done with compassion. To say, “This hurts.” To say, “I don’t know how to stay.” That kind of honesty is not weakness, it’s presence. And presence, even when it’s not returned, is still brave.
I think I know what you mean. When we’ve tried to reach the other person from our center (being loving and compassionate and open to their perspective), and yet, the person is still rude and hostile to us, then we can indeed tell ourselves (not sure if we need to tell it to them though) “This hurts. I don’t know how to stay.” When our love and extended hand is rejected, we can withdraw, and do it with compassion, rather than hatred and resentment.
Than I see we have landed on the same space. … That was nicely said.
Thanks, Peter 🙂 🙏
September 30, 2025 at 7:58 am #450432Tee
ParticipantDear Milda,
I’ve just found a beautiful guided meditation for healing the inner child, by the same coach, Lisa Romano. To me, it feels very loving and grounding, while it gently reminds us of the truth of who we are.
I thought to share it with you, in case you find it useful…
The title is “Guided Healing Inner Child Meditation/ What if you knew you were enough“. It’s on Lisa Romano’s youtube channel.
September 30, 2025 at 12:11 am #450425Tee
ParticipantDear Milda,
The biggest part of why I do struggle is that I believe that if during this time when I do not communicate with parents something happens to them, to their health, it is my fault. That I an responsible for their health in a sense
Yes, and that’s because you were conditioned to feel responsible for your parents. If I got this right, it seems you were mostly focused on your mother’s feelings and cheering her up, because she often felt sad and overwhelmed, living with an alcoholic husband (your father).
I think this here sums up nicely how you feel about your mother:
I feel the same and I let those thoughts and emotions control me the exact same way that it did when I was a child- keeping mom’s company, cheering her up, comforting her and doing everything I can to fix the situation and how mom is feeling.
Mom’s sadness hits me like the hardest weight.
You took responsibility for your mother’s feelings and were trying to do everything in your power to alleviate her pain. You took the role of her emotional caretaker: you were in charge of meeting her emotional needs, while your emotional needs were not met at all. You’ve talked about this role reversal already with Anita.
So you were a parentified child, serving as a surrogate parent to your mother. Perhaps she did fulfill her parental duties in terms of taking care of your physical needs (did she?), but she definitely failed taking care of your emotional needs.
It seems your mother wasn’t willing or able to take responsibility for her own life, but was basically dumping her sadness, frustration and worry onto you. She had an unhealthy dynamic with your father, but she chose to stay in that dynamic and vent to you, making you responsible for comforting her and making her feel better.
It seems that she also expected you to be in that role – it’s not just that you’re such an empathic person and took over that role willingly, but there was an element of emotional manipulation on her part.
For example, she expected you to speak to your sister after your sister had a big argument with your mother and told her she would never speak to her again. She expected you (and nudged you) to fix the problem with your sister, instead of trying to fix it herself:
During one conflict in our family, my sister got very angry and left the home, said to mom that she will never talk to her again and from that moment my mother was crushed (father is just never talking about this as it never happened), but mother used to say to me, that I have to talk to sister, I have to fix this
I feel a huge guilt inside of me that I am not trying to fix anything, because living without my sister in my life is all good to me, I never miss her, but seeing that my mother is devastated because of that makes me want to comfort her and get back with my sister JUST BECAUSE OF HER, not because I WANT I
In this instance too you served as your mother’s comforter, because she wasn’t willing to take responsibility for her own emotions. She expected you to do whatever needed to make her feel better (in this case, resume contact with your sister), even if you yourself didn’t want it, i.e. even if it went against your own wishes and your own emotional needs.
In other words, your mother’s emotional needs and preferences have overridden yours: her feelings are important, yours are not. And that’s the message she has been sending you all along, ever since your childhood. That’s the conditioning you were brought up with.
Would you say this is true, Milda?
If so, I’d say that perhaps one of the first things you could do is start telling yourself something like: “My feelings matter. I have the right to feel how I feel. I am allowed to honor my feelings. I am allowed to feel what I feel.”
So, allowing yourself to feel the entire spectrum of emotions, which you were not allowed to, because your mother would have been hurt or offended.
I guess the best would be to do it a safe setting, with a trusted therapist, where you can express those emotions, while having a safe container to hold you.
You’re definitely allowed to feel your emotions – you’re not a bad daughter if your emotions don’t align with those of your mother, and if your wishes don’t align with your mother’s. You’re a separate person, and owning and respecting your emotions is a part of that.
How does this sound?
September 29, 2025 at 3:31 am #450410Tee
ParticipantDear Milda,
you’re very welcome!
Yes, codependent behavior worked for me as a child, because I learned that it will keep me “safe” (now I see it as imaginary safety, because you are never truly safe, if safety is conditional and depends on how you manage parents’ emotions and struggles).
Yes, your safety and the sense of well-being depend on your parents’ feelings and emotional states/moods. And so if they feel upset, you need to do something to calm them down. Or if they feel distressed and unable to perform normal daily tasks, you jump in, so things wouldn’t fall apart.
From what I’ve seen from people in my surroundings, a lot of it is damage control, or damage prevention. And it’s hard to let go if you feel that something really bad is going to happen to Mom or Dad, and that you’ll be responsible for it (because you were conditioned your entire life to believe that you’re responsible for your parents and that you need to take care of their needs, and if you don’t, you’re a bad daughter).
This kind of conditioning is typical for narcissistic parents, and you said that your father might have narcissistic features: Father’s scepticism and narcisim is like a punch in the face
With narcissistic parents, things are much worse, because they feel entitled and they don’t really care about their child’s needs. And so this stance – that their needs come first and that you, as their child, should serve them – is very natural to them. And then they tend to shame and guilt the child for wanting to break free from that servant/caretaker role.
There is an amazing youtube channel by a psychotherapist Jerry Wise, who specializes in narcissistic parents and how we can break free from their conditioning. In a video entitled “Narcissistic parents: how they make you a highly reactive adult“, he says among other things that codependency is a fawn response (min 6:30), which is another trauma response (besides fight, flight or freeze).
So yeah, children of narcissistic parents, specially when there was addiction involved, are susceptible to becoming caretakers and codependent. It’s not just you, Milda, but many children from similar backgrounds. Luckily, there is a way out.
I’m dealing with the core, which is my parents, my programs that kept me SAFE during childhood. I start to think that there is no option to change. Because it’s like being born with brown hair and work towards the blond- yes, you can use hair dye, but your hair will keep on growing and roots will always show your real color.
I get what you’re saying. I think that so far you felt that change isn’t possible, because those trauma responses are written in your subconscious mind, in your nervous system. They’re a part of your “operating system”, so to speak. But thankfully, there are ways to reprogram that operating system, and one of the ways I believe is a program offered by Lisa Romano.
Jerry Wise also has an online course about breaking free from narcissistic parents. I don’t know if he offers somatic methods, such as reprogramming of the subconscious mind and learning new patterns. But his youtube videos are top quality, he has an amazing insight, so I would assume that he too offers a solid method to heal from those old patterns.
If I just come back to the old behavior, I would be extremelly unhappy, stressed for the rest of my life. But everyone around me will be very comfortable. I want to be happy. I really, truly want to be happy and free.
I hear you, Milda. You don’t need to keep the status quo. You don’t need to sacrifice yourself and your own happiness for your parents or anyone else. You deserve to live the life that makes you happy.
It doesn’t mean you suddenly turn your back on everyone and become selfish. It simply means that you stop abandoning yourself and your own needs, your own desires, your own goals and dreams. You have the right to be your own person, independent of the whims and demands of your parents.
I hope you feel a little less scared and alone by now. There are resources and people that can help you. There is a way out!
I am rooting for you, Milda ❤️
If you need any pointers, or would like to talk about anything at all, I’m here…
September 29, 2025 at 12:17 am #450407Tee
Participant* oops, wrong formatting in that one paragraph. It wasn’t supposed to be all italic.
September 29, 2025 at 12:14 am #450406Tee
ParticipantDear Milda,
I’m sorry you’re suffering, but it’s amazing how aware you are, and willing to make a move. You said that 2 years ago, you might not have been ready, but since then, you’ve ready many books and learned a lot about codependency and its causes.
But even though you understand the problem on the theoretical level, you say you still can’t make a significant change in practice, because your parents’ negative reaction immediately sends you back into that place, emotionally, where you feel guilty and unable to set boundaries.
I have people in my surroundings who struggle with codependency, and have been reading about it lately. And I’ve come across the teachings of Lisa Romano, a coach and best-selling author, who herself was codependent but found a way to break through, using methods that involve healing the inner child, i.e. learning how to respond in a different way, learning emotional detachment, etc.
She says that codependency is a trauma response, where the child is trying to manage and help their parent(s), so they would be more or less functional and/or non-threatening to the child, so that the child would feel a measure of safety. Basically, she’s saying that codependency is a survival strategy.
And as such, it is deeply ingrained in our nervous system. Each time we want to stand up for ourselves and set boundaries, the fear of rejection (and perhaps even existential fear) gets triggered, and we immediately slip into the old fight-or-flight response, where we give up on our needs, in order to please our parents.
That’s what Anita was talking about too: the brain-body chemistry and the need to work on the somatic level too, not only cognitively.
You say talk therapy hasn’t helped you, and Lisa Romano talks about it too. She says that constantly talking about past trauma, but without learning and applying the tools to self-regulate, is only going to strengthen those trauma circuits in the brain. So I can imagine that classical talk therapy can even be counter-productive, when it comes to dealing with codependency.
Anyway, in case you’re interested, there’s a video in which Lisa Romano explains her method. It’s on youtube, and the title is “Codependency is a trauma response/Healing starts with ending denial.”
It’s a long video, in which she also advertises her 12-week healing program. But nevertheless, she makes many great points in that video (if you’re in a rush, you can start watching at minute 10). She also gives an exercise for “interrupting the old patterns” (which starts at about min 29). I’ve tried it, and it’s really cool.
She also has a book, titled: “Codependent – Now What?“, which I’ve just purchased, and so far it seems very illuminating.
You said:
To be able to feel all of these unpleasant emotions, to hear parents’ insulting, hurtful words, to hear mothers “How dare you think about yourself when there are other people, you are not the centre of the word” and still do what I want to do. To feel guilty, but still not do what I do not want to. To feel the urge to fix somebody’s problem, but not fix it.
Yes, that’s the goal! Emotional self-regulation is key. When the trigger comes, to notice the old, habitual feelings of fear rising, but instead of giving in to the old pattern of people pleasing, we stay present with our feelings and we tell ourselves that we’re safe, for example. Lisa Romano’s exercise is something along those lines.
The goal is to first become aware of our habitual thinking/reacting process, and not slip into it automatically (like on an automatic pilot), but to include our conscious awareness (our prefrontal cortex) as an observer. That seems to be the first step in reprogramming our old, subconscious patterns.
I hope this was helpful to you, Milda, and that it will give you ideas for the next step. You seem very ready to take it ❤️
September 28, 2025 at 2:05 pm #450397Tee
ParticipantHi Peter,
I love the conversation between Layla and Zafar, as well as your portrayal of Hakuin:
Hakuin responds not with outrage but with spaciousness. His peace was not tied to what others said about him. The rhetoric can shift and change, but if your calm or sense of self is not dependent on praise or condemnation, you are free.
I used to read this as unhealthy detachment. Now in the second half of life, I see it as a kind of quiet courage. To remain present without needing to be right. To hold discomfort without turning it into defense.
This is what you were talking about in your latest post to me, right? About not being attached to other people’s opinions of you. And that’s healthy detachment, I agree. It’s not indifference.
And also, to hold discomfort without turning it into defense. That’s the lesson I’ve learned recently: to engage from my center, not from the place of hurt. That facilitates non-violent communication…
I’m not really engaged in political debates at this time, even if I’m not apolitical and have an opinion. But it’s sad how the political discourse has become really polarized. And unfortunately, (some of) political leaders contribute to it and “fan the fires” of strife and dispute.
I’ve been reading about high-conflict personality types, and how such people actually prefer dispute and “violent” (as opposed to non-violent) communication. And this has spread in the society in recent years. With such people, I believe it’s best not to engage, because trying to do so is futile and we may end up getting drained and hurt.
I’ve always thought I had to be ready before I spoke. Clear. Composed. Unshakable. But maybe readiness isn’t the point. Maybe it’s enough to be honest. To say, “This hurts.” To say, “I don’t know how to stay.”
And maybe the candle I hold isn’t for lighting the whole room. Maybe it’s just enough to see my own hands. To remember that I’m still here. Still willing. Still listening.
This is a wonderful approach, Peter. And it works with people who are willing to listen. But if all they want is to attack you, if they don’t want to see anything but their part of the elephant, then I think it’s better to withdraw from the debate. But of course, it depends what forums you participate in, and if there are people open and willing to hear a different perspective.
I sometimes listen to Marianne Williamson, who seems to be an enlightened leader. She is weaving politics with spirituality. Tall order, I believe. She has a following, and perhaps some day the political thought will turn in that direction. But for now, I think of her as holding a candle in a dark room.
In a polarized world, dialogue is not a luxury. It’s a lifeline. And, I think it begins not with cleverness, but with compassion. Not with argument, but with attention. Compassion that makes it safe, even when its not returned, and the choice to stay engaged, to keep the candle lit, makes it brave.
That’s so true. Willingness to see the other, listen to their pain, listen to their needs. But also, respect our own pain and our own needs. Compassion and self-compassion. I think the two together is the winning combination.
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