Sherry
posted a link to "
Dr. Ross Greene, Educating Kids Who Have Been Traumatized" and this got me thinking.
I can relate. My siblings were frequently struck with objects and it did not make them behave, it merely made them sneaky and blame-shifting. Myself as well, I suppose, and it can stick with you a long time.
For example, today I wanted to accomplish a minor but important piece of home maintenance (earthquake strapping my water heater) which I had delayed because doing anything new with tools runs the risk of being shouted at or being struck for doing it wrong....or so my brain tells me even though that hasn't happened since I left my birthplace. Fortunately for me there was a countervailing anxiety of screwing up the refinance, so I let the two abusive adults shout at each other in my head and just got the job done, and felt pretty good about it too. I've had half a lifetime to become functional.
I can hardly imagine what this would be like for a child but it can't be good and it certainly can't be functional.
