Posted: March 11, 2026
Many adults wonder why relationships feel harder than they should. You may notice patterns such as having difficulty expressing your emotions, feeling uncomfortable with emotional closeness, and attracting one-sided or emotionally distant relationships. And yet, when you think about your childhood, it may seem like...
Posted: February 25, 2026
Grief is a universal experience, but for adults who grew up with childhood emotional neglect, navigating loss can feel overwhelming and isolating. When emotional needs were ignored in childhood, many people enter adulthood without the skills to identify, process, or express complex feelings, making the stages of grief more difficult to move through. This post explores how childhood emotional neglect disrupts the grieving process, reviews the five stages of grief introduced by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, and offers practical strategies for healing. Learn how to process grief in a healthy way, reconnect with your emotions, seek support, and begin healing unresolved childhood emotional neglect so you can move forward with greater resilience and self-compassion.
Posted: February 3, 2026
The “black sheep” is usually defined as the outcast: the odd one, the difficult one, the family member who somehow brought their exclusion upon themselves. Families often assume that if one person is treated differently, there must be a good reason. Sometimes that’s true. Occasionally,...
Posted: November 12, 2025
The holidays are often described as “the most wonderful time of the year,” but for many people, they can be complicated. If you’re someone who is estranged from family, or if your childhood was marked by emotional neglect, this season can stir up grief, loneliness,...
Posted: January 29, 2025
If you grew up with CEN, you know the painful ways in which you felt unseen and unheard. You longed for your parent(s) to ask you about your inner world or simply put aside their evening hobbies to eat dinner with you. Growing with up...
Posted: December 14, 2022
It may be surprising (or not) to know that there is a connection between Childhood Emotional Neglect (CEN) and narcissism. People who grow up with Childhood Emotional Neglect have a strong tendency to view themselves and their own needs as unimportant while those with narcissism...