Does your child’s rage or rejection feel like it slices right through your chest? You’re not imagining it—it really does hurt. But often, that pain isn’t just about what’s happening in the moment. It’s an old wound—your wound—being reactivated.
In this episode of Unmuted Love, Ce unpacks the sneaky way your child’s trauma behaviors can poke at your deepest places of shame, rejection, and unworthiness—what psychology calls narcissistic wounding.
We’ll talk about:
- What narcissistic wounding actually is (spoiler: not what it sounds like).
- The kinds of childhood experiences that create it.
- Why kids from difficult beginnings are experts at accidentally triggering it.
- Real-life parent/child scenarios where wounds flare.
- Tools for staying grounded so you can parent from your wise self, not your wounded self.
- Why this is not a sign you’re broken—it’s actually an invitation to heal.
You’ll walk away knowing how to spot your own “triggers” and how to step back into your compassionate self—even when it feels personal.
Because here’s the truth: when you heal these old wounds, you don’t just change your story—you change your child’s story, too.
Resources:
Parenting the Hurt Child by Gregory Keck & Regina Kupecky
Nurturing Adoptions: Creating Resilience After Neglect and Trauma by Deborah D. Gray
These are recommended for adoptive and foster caregivers to understand trauma's impact on child development and to build resilience-supportive homes.
The Primal Wound by Nancy Newton Verrier
Considered a seminal work exploring the emotional and identity-related wounds of adoptees, helping adoptive parents empathize with adoptees’ inner experiences.