But here's the thing...when you grow up inside generational trauma, you know what it feels like. You may not have had the words for it as a child. You may not have understood why your home felt different, why you were always anxious or depressed, or why you learned to stay quiet, read the room, keep the peace, or make yourself smaller. But somewhere inside, you knew. You knew things weren’t supposed to feel that way. Generational trauma can look like emotional neglect, abandonment, addiction, rage, control, silence, instability, humiliation, or adults expecting children to carry burdens that were never theirs to carry, and more. And one of the hardest things to understand is this: some people experienced those things themselves and when they became parents still decide that the dysfunction wasn't going to stop with them. That is why healing matters. Not because we can change what happened to us, but because awareness gives us the opportunity to stop handing the same pain to the next generation. Breaking the cycle is difficult. But repeating the same cycle over and over is worse. And if you grew up knowing, deep down, that something wasn’t right… breaking the cycle starts with you. #GenerationalTrauma #BreakingTheCycle #ChildhoodTrauma #HealingJourney #EmotionalNeglect - @lifebetweendogwalks