Tagged With "happiness"

The well-timed choice to forgive deep injuries from childhood, though difficult, can greatly improve psychological wellbeing and free us to move ahead. Four keys to forgiveness lay the foundation for cultivating healing forgiveness skills.

While the process of forgiving painful offenses from childhood can be very difficult, efforts to forgive bring great rewards. The process begins with acknowledging the pain, applying self-compassion, and taking even small and faltering steps to get the forgiveness ball rolling.

Strengthening the wounded soul can improve psychological and physical wellbeing and help to complete the recovery process. Although ACEs, understandably, can numb feelings, including spiritual feelings, once healing has progressed, spiritual feelings can often be successfully cultivated.

Wonderful essay! Spirituality (but not necessarily organized religion) must be part of healing the trauma of childhood abuse or neglect. I would call your attention to the work of Leonard Shengold MD, a psychoanalyst who originally published an article on "Soul Murder" from child abuse or neglect in the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association 27(3) in 1979 with 2 following books on the subject. I agree with him that the depth of trauma to children by trusted party maltreatment can...

Thank you Dr. Schiraldi for this wonderful post. ACES affect us deeply and leads to what Dr. Eduardo Duran calls, 'soul wounds.' So healing and care of the soul are central to our PACES work. Thomas Moore's book 'CARE OF THE SOUL: A GUIDE FOR CULTIVATING DEPTH AND SACREDNESS IN EVERYDAY LIFE (1992)' speaks to our need to care for soul rather than cure the soul. Our work at The Montana Institute begins with SPIRIT 1st as a way to cultivate sacred space for soulwork that we do with HOPE -...

Adverse childhood experiences understandably can numb feelings, including feelings of joy, happiness, and pleasure. Making time to be joyful rewires the wounded brain. Once healing has progressed, the capacity for joy can usually be expanded through the repeated application of proven joy strategies.

Once the healing of hidden wounds from adverse childhood experiences has sufficiently progressed, attention can turn to developing a richly satisfying future. Your innate inner strengths, experiences, and acquired skills will help rewire your brain for a brighter future.

Attachment disruptions and other hidden wounds from ACEs can render one more vulnerable to drug addiction. Genuine, mature love from others, and for oneself, can change the course of one's life. A recent book highlights the path from childhood trauma to addiction to recovery.

A difficult past need not define you, nor determine your future. We explore three paths to building a satisfying life after hardship in childhood.