Growing up amidst the turbulence of alcoholism and dysfunction, my instinctive urge for control was born from a longing for stability. As I navigate this journey of healing, I am discovering that true liberation springs not only from acceptance but from surrendering...
Growing up as an adult child of a dysfunctional home (ACDH) can leave lasting emotional scars. One of the most challenging aspects of our journey to healing is confronting painful relationships with controlling, manipulative, and abusive family members. That is why...
I haven’t spoken to my mother in over two decades, but every once in a while, when I’m walking through a rainy parking lot in a pair of jeans, I’ll still hear her voice speak from my memory. I hear her tell me that my legs look like stuffed sausages, just like she did...
In ACA (Adult Children of Alcoholics) and ACDH (Adult Children of Dysfunctional Homes) meetings, we often hear about people doing IFS (Internal Family Systems) therapy. So I decided to do a little research and discovered Souls and Hearts founded by Dr. Peter...
For members of Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACA), part of our solution for healing is to become our own loving parents. We do this through 12-step work and by taking a blameless inventory of our caregivers to recognize the wounds that we received from them so that we...
As time passes, our recovery brings with it new growth and awareness of God and ourselves. By living a life of honesty, openness, and willingness, God fills our hearts, minds, and spirits with new knowledge and wisdom, or “God thoughts.” For me, these thoughts have...
Have you found yourself stuck in an unhealthy relationship pattern from which you cannot break free? If so, then chances are you’ve taken on one or more roles from the Triangle of Dysfunctional Relationships (also known as the “Drama Triangle” developed by Dr. Stephen...
In his book Healing Prayer, John Horn details how the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius provide a way of healing deep childhood wounds through the guidance of a competent spiritual director. I completed the Spiritual Exercises in May 2020 and it was a very healing...
I’ve learned through ACA (Adult Children of an Alcoholic) recovery that growing up in a dysfunctional home actually gave me a form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). However, thanks to recent research into this phenomenon there are many resources available to...