“divorcing” your mother will be part of healing this third-degree burn. You might start with a 30-day separation, disconnecting from contact via phone, text, social media . . . anywhere she can see or connect with you. As you practice new boundaries, creating safety for yourself, you are essentially coming out of a dissociative trance that you’ve been in most of your life. Emerging from constant dissociation means facing buried emotions. This is a good time to remember what your goal is: You are building secure attachment within yourself that was lost in your formative years. You are creating
...more
