How Childhood Neglect Impacts Your Adult Relationships and How to Heal: 3 Key Steps (Podcast Episode 308)

Many of my clients have issues today that relate back to being neglected as kids, but they’ve never realized that what happened to them was neglect. They say things like, “I had a roof over my head and food,” “My mom was there when I got home from school,” or they’ll even tell me they had a happy childhood. Growing up with neglectful parents isn’t always easy to identify. If you felt unseen, unheard, or unimportant as a child, you may be living with the long-term effects of childhood neglect. And, guess what? There’s a huge body of research that backs up how neglect in childhood affects your adult relationships and your mental health. Today, we’ll break down what neglectful parenting looks like, how you may be carrying the scars into your adult relationships, how to deal currently with your neglectful parents and most importantly, how you can start healing.

Click here to read the full blog and show notes!

Resources for How Childhood Neglect Impacts Your Adult Relationships and How to Heal: 3 Key Steps

You Might Not Realize You’re Suffering from Unhealed Trauma

How Childhood Trauma Affects Relationships

How Attached Are You In Your Relationship?

How Your Attachment Style Affects Your Personal Relationships

How to Forgive Someone Who Hurt You in 5 Steps

The Forgiveness Masterclass with Dr. Abby Medcalf

Four Ways to Be More Self-Aware

How to Make Mindfulness a Consistent Habit

Is Self-Compassion The Secret to a Happy Relationship?

Learn to Hold Boundaries with Healthy Selfishness

Research

West J, Lawlor DA, Fairley L, Wright J. Differences in socioeconomic position, lifestyle and health-related pregnancy characteristics between Pakistani and White British women in the Born in Bradford prospective cohort study: the influence of the woman’s, her partner’s and their parents’ place of birth. BMJ Open. 2014 Jun 19;4(6):e004805. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-004805. PMID: 24948746; PMCID: PMC4067825.

Pinquart, M., Gerke, DC. Associations of Parenting Styles with Self-Esteem in Children and Adolescents: A Meta-Analysis. J Child Fam Stud 28, 2017–2035 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01417-5

Rosenberg, J. E., & Cook, J. H. (1976). DIFFERENCES IN PARENTING AND SUBSEQUENT CHARACTER STRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT IN CHILD ABUSE AND CHILD NEGLECT. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 1(2), 72-75. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/1.2.72

Colman, R. A., & Widom, C. S. (2004). Childhood abuse and neglect and adult intimate relationships: A prospective study. Child Abuse & Neglect, 28(11), 1133-1151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2004.02.005

Gower, Katherine, Baldwin-White, Adrienne. Healthy Romantic Relationships: Attitudes and Perceptions of College Students. Violence and Victims, Vol. 36, Number 2, 2021

Davis, J. R., & Gold, G. J. (2011). An examination of emotional empathy, attributions of stability, and the link between perceived remorse and forgiveness. Personality and Individual Differences, 50(3), 392-397. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2010.10.031

Inwood, E. and Ferrari, M. (2018), Mechanisms of Change in the Relationship between Self-Compassion, Emotion Regulation, and Mental Health: A Systematic Review. Appl Psychol Health Well-Being, 10: 215-235. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12127

Parsons, C. E., Crane, C., Parsons, L. J., Fjorback, L. O., & Kuyken, W. (2017). Home practice in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction: A systematic review and meta-analysis of participants’ mindfulness practice and its association with outcomes. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 95, 29-41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2017.05.004

Subscribe & Review in Apple Podcasts