Becoming Your Own Loving Parent

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Growing up in a dysfunctional family, many of us lacked the loving parent we desired or deserved. However, in ACA, we come to understand that we can become our own Loving Parent. This process of becoming our own Loving Parent is essential for healing from a neglectful childhood and serves as the gateway to nurturing our Inner Child.

Many adult children may not have considered the idea of reparenting themselves, but with support and guidance, we can approach this journey with gentleness, humor, love, and respect. In ACA, we are not alone as we embark on the journey of reparenting. Through our recovery, we utilize reparenting to foster healthy connections with ourselves and others. We take a moment to notice behaviors like minimizing ourselves, often without awareness. This newfound awareness allows us to reframe our mistakes as opportunities for emotional growth and learning.

Our own Loving Parent reassures us that recovery is a gradual process; it takes time. By engaging in reparenting work within ACA, we affirm that we are good enough and are indeed making progress.

Resources:

Loving Parent Guidebook: https://shop.adultchildren.org/products/loving-parent-guidebook

Fellowship Text: “The Solution: Becoming Your Own Loving Parent”, BRB pp. 295-329, guides us toward our own identity, which diverges from the roles learned in our family’s dysfunctional dynamic.