{"id":840,"date":"2014-10-29T10:15:19","date_gmt":"2014-10-29T10:15:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/1078847117.n109608.test.prositehosting.co.uk\/?page_id=840"},"modified":"2026-08-21T16:08:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T16:08:44","slug":"childhood-abuse-counselling","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/talkmebetter.co.uk\/childhood-abuse-counselling\/","title":{"rendered":"Childhood Abuse Counselling"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Counselling for Childhood Abuse and mistreatment: Change Is Possible.<\/h1>\n<p>I started my professional career working in the field of <em>childhood abuse counselling<\/em>. As a survivor of past abuse I have a particular sensitivity to the issues. If you wonder if you or your partner&#8217;s experience of childhood was &#8216;abuse&#8217; then read on&#8230;..<br \/>\n<em>Abuse in childhood is defined as<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Emotional and or physical neglect (including coercive control by a parent)<\/li>\n<li>Parentification (having to take on adult roles of caring or being overly responsible for others)<\/li>\n<li>Physical abuse including excessive physical discipline<\/li>\n<li>Sexual abuse and trauma including inappropriate touching<\/li>\n<li>Being raised in a home where domestic violence or substance misuse is present<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>To experience any or a combination of these can make us more vulnerable to emotional distress later in life. Oftentimes the symptoms in adulthood are masked by compensatory behaviours &#8211; excessive reliance on alcohol or illegal drugs, uncontrollable anger, emotional distance &#8211; always keeping people at arms length.<br \/>\nParadoxically, sometimes the effects work in the opposite direction &#8211; with survivors of painful pasts being very sensitive to the moods and needs of others often in very self sacrificing ways.<br \/>\n<em>Common symptoms of a dysfunctional past are:<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Having feelings of worthlessness or unlovability<\/li>\n<li>Finding people take advantage of you or mistreat you<\/li>\n<li>Misusing alcohol or drugs or choosing partners who do<\/li>\n<li>Having an unhealthy relationship with food<\/li>\n<li>Workaholism and being excessively driven to succeed in everything<\/li>\n<li>Distrusting others and finding intimacy difficult<\/li>\n<li>Self destructive behaviours and suicidal thoughts<\/li>\n<li>A pattern of unstable or unsatisfactory relationships with loved ones<\/li>\n<li>Finding healthy assertiveness difficult<\/li>\n<li>Explosive or destructive anger<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you or your partner are experiencing any of the above symptoms in a way that interferes with the quality of your life or has come at a cost to you in the past, then it could help you to look at what it is that drives these behaviours. We can&#8217;t change the past but we can end the destructive behaviours and work in new more functional and healthy ways.<\/p>\n<h3>Change is possible. Life can be better.<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"..\/contact-alex-drummond-counsellor-cardiff\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-979\" src=\"..\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/CBT-counsellor-Cardiff-contact-300x63.jpg\" alt=\"contact abuse counsellor cardiff\" width=\"300\" height=\"63\" srcset=\"https:\/\/talkmebetter.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/CBT-counsellor-Cardiff-contact-300x63.jpg 300w, https:\/\/talkmebetter.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/CBT-counsellor-Cardiff-contact-900x191.jpg 900w, https:\/\/talkmebetter.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/CBT-counsellor-Cardiff-contact-1024x218.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>To find out more try the following link:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a title=\"schema therapy\" href=\"http:\/\/www.schematherapy.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Schema Therapy<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A derivative of Cognitive Behavioural therapy which I have found to be particularly effective for people with a painful childhood history.<br \/>\n<strong>A couple of books you might like to try <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Re-inventing Your Life\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/exec\/obidos\/ASIN\/0452272041\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Re-inventing Your Life<\/a><a title=\"Reinventing your life\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/exec\/obidos\/ASIN\/0452272041\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1110\" src=\"..\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/reinvent-187x300.jpg\" alt=\"schema therapy book\" width=\"87\" height=\"144\" \/><\/a><a title=\"Toxic Parents\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/exec\/obidos\/ASIN\/0553814826\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Toxic Parents &#8211; escape the legacy<\/a><a title=\"Toxic Parents\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/exec\/obidos\/ASIN\/0553814826\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-373\" title=\"toxic\" src=\"..\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/toxic.jpg\" alt=\"book image toxic parents\" width=\"88\" height=\"140\" \/><\/a><a title=\"Overcoming Childhood Trauma\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/exec\/obidos\/ASIN\/1841190810\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Overcoming Childhood Trauma<\/a><a title=\"Overcome childhood trauma\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/exec\/obidos\/ASIN\/1841190810\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-thumbnail wp-image-374\" title=\"trauma\" src=\"..\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/trauma-101x150.jpg\" alt=\"childhood abuse: overcome child abuse book\" width=\"101\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Counselling for Childhood Abuse and mistreatment: Change Is Possible. I started my professional career working in the field of childhood abuse counselling. As a survivor of past abuse I have a particular sensitivity to the issues. If you wonder if you or your partner&#8217;s experience of childhood was &#8216;abuse&#8217; then read on&#8230;.. Abuse in childhood [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-840","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Childhood Abuse Counselling - Talk Me Better<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Childhood abuse counselling helps you re-frame the trauma of the past and start to live your own life. 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