Takeaways from “Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents”

I recently read “Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents” and wanted to share some things I took from it.

• I found it to be an empowering book, with effective strategies to reclaim your emotional freedom, and have healthier relationships, not just with your parents, but yourself and anyone in your life… by becoming a compassionate observer and recognizing most people are doing the best they can, the best they know.

• It helped me see ways in which I have emotionally immature behavior too!

• A simple way to explain emotionally immature behavior is being unable to think and feel at the same time. I like to take a trauma-informed perspective and keep in mind that people have different capacities at different times. We can only do our best at the time.

• Our true self uses emotional problems to try to get our attention; to wake us up to our true needs!

• Breakdowns reveal deeper truths. Often when we are experiencing a breakdown of some kind… either an emotional, personal one, or within a relationship or other structure, our truth as we know it at the time is breaking down…

• We struggle more when we deny our truth.

• The most impactful takeaway: I hadn’t realized the large impact of experiencing emotional loneliness growing up. How this affects self-care and self-acceptance in our later life… and therefore our relationships… so deeply.

Physical copies and the audiobook are available at the Austin Public Library. It is also available on Spotify Premium.