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If you wouldn’t want your own children to experience the exact childhood you had... it’s okay to call it trauma.

We all start here, I believe:

“I don’t know if it was that bad…”

That question bridges our inner knowing that something was off, but we often confuse ourselves because we lack the tools and perspective to name it.

We don’t have a frame of reference for what a healthy family system actually looks like—just hints.

We don’t have specific help to guide us in understanding what qualifies as abuse.

We don’t have families willing to be real or honest about what the family was truly like.

And we don’t have much support to face the dark period of admitting we weren’t safe as children.

But you can ask yourself one question:

Would you put a child through what you went through?

Your answer might be what you need to start your recovery.

-Patrick Teahan

Childhood trauma educator, fellow survivor, and advocate of the Relationship Recovery Process.