Dr. Becky, a clinical psychologist, expressed regret about preventing her three-year-old daughter from joining her at night. She described feeling like a monster for enforcing this boundary out of fear, not understanding her daughter's emotional needs. The child resorted to sleeping on the floor outside their bedroom for months and developed beliefs about her identity, stating, 'I'm a wood person.' Dr. Becky encourages working through feelings of shame and emphasizes the importance of repair, assuring that it's never too late to improve parent-child relationships.
"The thing that really gets in the way of learning and growing ... is our shame. Shame freezes us and ... freeze is an anti-learning defense state that keeps us where we are."
"I feel like a monster as I talk about it - she was 3. I didn't let her come into our room. I think I was so fearful - I don't know what - It was like, this rigidity of, 'I can't do that, that's my boundary.'"
"Repair is powerful. And yes, even I have regrets from my parenting journey. It is never too late. My most recent podcast episode is one you don't want to miss."
Collection
[
|
...
]