childhood emotional neglect part 4: workaholic, perfection-obsessed, and special-care parents

Part four of our series unfolds the complex narratives of three more distinct parenting styles that, beneath their unique challenges, share a common thread of emotional neglect. Together, we’ll navigate the realms of “the Workaholic Parent”, “the Perfection-Obsessed Parent”, and “The Parent Caring for a Family Member Who Requires Special Attention”, each presenting a unique set of psychological dynamics that inadvertently contribute to Childhood Emotional Neglect (CEN).1. The Workaholic Parent: In a society that prizes achievement and productivity, the workaholic parent's ceaseless pursuit of professional success often comes at the expense of meaningful family interactions. Through Lily's story, we explore how a childhood adorned with material wealth yet devoid of emotional depth leaves enduring scars, highlighting the silent longing for parental presence and understanding.2. The Perfection-Obsessed Parent: The relentless chase for flawlessness and high achievement drives a wedge between parent and child, where love feels conditional on success. Liam's journey reveals the internal battle of living up to impossibly high standards, fostering a sense of inadequacy and a quest for external validation that overlooks the child's emotional needs and intrinsic value.3. The Parent Caring for a Family Member Who Requires Special Attention (due to illness, disability, addiction, or persistent mental health struggles): Tasked with an extraordinary responsibility, these parents navigate a daily reality of immense challenge and devotion. Through the experiences of Emily and Alex, we delve into the emotional landscape of siblings who, amidst the family's focused caregiving, grapple with feelings of invisibility, guilt, and the unintended neglect of their emotional well-being.This episode seeks to illuminate the nuanced psychological "whys" behind these parenting styles and the inadvertent emotional neglect they can engender. Through a compassionate lens, we aim to foster understanding, healing, and a dialogue on the importance of balancing the demands of work, aspirations, and caregiving with the essential emotional connection every child deserves. Join me as we navigate these intricate family dynamics, underscored by insights from depth psychology and personal stories of resilience. This exploration is an invitation to parents and families to reflect, acknowledge, and shift towards more emotionally attuned and connected relationships.Recommended resources:✧ Running on Empty: Overcome Your Childhood Emotional Neglect by Jonice Webb, PhD✧ Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving by Pete WalkerCraving more? Become a Premium Submarine. Join an exclusive community and unlock hundreds of hours of members-only content: full-length episodes, deep-dive series, guided meditations, and more—all for the cost of a couple of coffees a month. Start exploring at backfromtheborderline.com.The information contained in this podcast episode is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for treatment or consultation with a licensed mental health professional. acast+ https://plus.acast.com/s/back-from-the-borderline. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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I don’t want to talk to your personality; I want to talk to your soul. Imagine if your most painful and debilitating mental health symptoms and self-sabotaging behaviors aren’t evidence of 'disorder' or 'dysfunction', but adaptive strategies that once kept you safe. My goal is to help you shift from asking ‘What’s wrong with me?’ to ‘What happened to me?’The word ‘borderline’ in this podcast isn’t about psychiatric labels. It’s about coming back from the inner psychological brink we all experience. Everyone has found themselves on the edge, in that liminal space where the old self falls apart and the new Self emerges. Here, we explore what it means to undergo true emotional alchemy: that ancient and primordial process of falling apart, confronting the underworld of our psyche, and falling back together into someone stronger, wiser, and more whole.Many highly sensitive people who identify with the seemingly never-ending list of diagnostic mental health labels contained within ‘the bible of psychiatry’ (the DSM) share the same underlying sense of being irreparably broken, disconnected from their intuition, and paralyzed by life’s existential questions. I believe the resulting—and perfectly understandable—chronic feelings of emptiness and spiritual starvation are the TRUE causes of our current collective ‘mental health crisis.’ Together, we’ll dive into depth psychology, mythology, human consciousness, critical psychiatry, and the impact of trauma to help you begin the process of emotional alchemy. This exploration will help you get to the root cause of your suffering and free yourself from the toxic shame, limiting beliefs, and mental programming that have kept you locked in the chains of your past.In an era where mental health and spirituality are too often commercialized, I’m not here as a guru with a quick fix to sell you. I don’t believe anyone is ever truly ‘healed’ or ‘cured.’ There is no return to some mythical state of pre-trauma purity, but rather a continuous spiral of unbecoming, unlearning, and transformation. As a fellow seeker, I will be there in your ear, walking alongside you on your path toward wholeness as a sort of parasocial big sister. That, I can promise. By integrating the concepts we explore together, you’ll begin to see that anyone—even you—can come back from the borderline.CRAVING MORE? Visit backfromtheborderline.com to dive into my universe, connect with me, access my Patreon, and discover more about my journey and work. Don’t forget to follow Back from the Borderline so new episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays automatically drop into your podcast feed. acast+ https://plus.acast.com/s/back-from-the-borderline. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.