Being emotionally neglected by a distracted parent can instil a lasting sense of worthlessness which no amount of later attention or fame can easily contradict. Fear of a volatile parent’s temper can mold a whole personality in the direction of meekness and compliance. The

In my work with people in the helping professions, I have often been confronted with a childhood history that seems significant to me. • There was a mother* who at the core was emotionally insecure and who depended for her equilibrium on her child’s behaving in a particular way. This mother was able to hide her insecurity from her child and from ev

She develops an attitude of anxious expectation regarding her needs and the world. Emotional deprivation can have the same effect. If the child is very heart-centered and needs to feel loved in each moment, but her parents withdraw their heart connection whenever they are displeased or just busy with something else, the child feels emotionally aban