YOUR TOOLBOX is for people of any age, junior to senior, who want to write a letter to a parent that starts with 'I hate you' and ends with 'XO, hugs, and kisses.' It is normal to want to love a parent, but after a mother or father leaves hurtful and damaging marks, physical or emotional, it can turn a child upside down. Unfortunately, many sons and daughters are forced to live with feelings of mistrust and deprivation from the very people they were born to trust and love and have no alternative than to fend for themselves as they grow into adolescence and adulthood. Every story of childhood trauma may have a different beginning, but a common factor is that it can lead to destructive behavior to oneself, loved ones and society. Parental harm can rear it's ugly head when a child is an infant, toddler, preschooler, tween, teen or young adult. Regardless of the age when one lands on the receiving end of dangerous parental actions, that individual may never fully understand or resolve the root of their lifelong challenges and struggles. Paraphrasing a friend of mine who is a practicing therapist, bad experiences stick to our brain like velcro whereas the good ones slide out of our memory like Teflon. If we put our minds to it, we have the power to tip the scales by recalling the positive and shedding past negative occurrences and encounters. The tools referred to in YOUR TOOLBOX that can help us move forward are accessible to all, within ourselves. YOUR TOOLBOX is a guide that acknowledges internal battles but also recognizes our desire and ability to change. It transfers the power and control back to where it should have been at the start.
