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The Impact of Authoritarian Parenting on Trauma Responding
How rigid rules, excessive demands and an inability to be ourselves influence 3 types of responding.
Trigger Warning: The following content includes personal experiences and discussions around difficult topics such as trauma, emotional challenges, childhood maltreatment, or abusive relationships. While my intent is to educate and share personal insights, some readers may find certain content emotionally distressing. This article is for informational purposes only.
As kids, we probably weren’t focusing too much of our attention on how we were being raised, or on the adults in our lives who held power and control over us. Granted, most probably grew up in an environment where punishment was doled out only when necessary, and where memories of being loved, encouraged, guided, and wanted outweighed any reprimands received.
For the rest of us, our experiences were different; harsher. Words like “authoritarian” may not have rolled off our tongues as kids, but as adults, we can now nod along in recognizing this type of parenting and its effects on our lives. The reality is that the word authoritarian is not always taught in school. Kids aren’t learning how to differentiate between authoritative (warm, sensitive, and structured)…
