This Is How We Heal From Painful Childhoods
Painful childhood stresses, struggles, and traumas naturally follow you into adulthood and continue to impact self-views and interpersonal functioning. Natural responses to these experiences remain obstacles to becoming your healthiest, most productive, and fulfilled self.
Painful childhood experiences can include parents divorcing all the way to abuse and neglect. Prolonged periods of stress cause a young brain to create physical and mental habits that it believes will help you survive. Unfortunately, these survival-based habits and core beliefs work against your adult life and relationship goals. These obstacles can include:
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Unhealthy relationship with yourself
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Chaotic, combative, toxic relationships
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Unhealthy personal habits
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Chronic anxiety symptoms
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Dysfunctional family dynamics
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Personal or family addictions
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Mental health disorders
These are all perfectly normal reactions to childhood struggles, and they do not automatically go away when you grow up! Healing from family trauma is challenging, but not impossible. Instead of hoping these issues will fix themselves (hint: they won’t), self-education and guided skills building can empower you to eliminate many obstacles and successfully manage others throughout your life.
This encouraging and reality-based guide to healing from childhood and family trauma was authored by Life & Trauma Coach Ernest Ellender, PhD, who poured into it the best of his clinical experiences and educational insights derived from his 20+ years career in clinical psychology, during which he worked directly with survivors of various types of childhood trauma.
This Is How We Heal From Painful Childhoods presents 20 concepts that must be addressed to comprehensively heal from and thrive past your childhood. Each chapter explains the critical educational concepts before presenting realistic workbook drills to retrain unhelpful thinking, dysfunctional interpersonal dynamics, and unhealthy physical habits.
Slow down... think... and choose your path!
Ernest Ellender, PhD
Author & Trauma Coach Ernest Ellender grew up swimming, fishing, skiing, and hunting with his family on the bayous and beaches of south Louisiana. Eight years of graduate school in California produced two educations for him: a PhD in clinical psychology and a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He continues to use both to empower coaching clients and martial arts students with knowledge and skills that boost their confidence and personal functioning.
When not coaching, I keep busy writing, spending time with family and friends, learning new skills (freediving, dancing), and planning my next vacation to experience new adventures!