An absent parent

How do we heal from this?

• They were home, but not present.

• Perhaps a parent depleted from work, or battling mental health issues or addiction...managing their own private pain. (Physically present, emotionally absent).

• So you learned to adjust. You stopped needing their affection, their affirmation. You stopped wanting what wasn't available.

• Those coping strategies became your armour of defence and started to feel like your personality.

• As an adult, it's showing up in relationships, avoidant in communication, difficulty with intimacy and deeper connections.

• The parent may have loved you in their own way, yet the loss is still present everyday and it's having a negative impact on your present relationships. Honesty about what was there and what wasn't is usually a good starting point.

If this hits home, I offer a brief no-pressure, no-commitment conversation to see what can help. Truth is ...you can't heal from what you don't understand.