childhood Archives - The Overwhelmed Brain

When a dysfunctional upbringing leaves you with nothing but broken tools

August 5, 2018 By Paul Colaianni Leave a Comment

Your level of function or dysfunction as an adult is almost always determined by the most unhealthy or toxic people in your family growing up.

When you are raised by those who didn’t or couldn’t love and support you as you deserved, you may have developed “broken” tools to deal with situations as an adult. When your emotional toolbox has a bunch of broken tools, you may keep getting the results you don’t want, causing you to stay unhappy.

In this episode, I help you identify those broken tools and what you can do to start utilizing them the right way, or even fixing them altogether.

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When your parent doesn’t make you feel worthy

May 20, 2018 By Paul Colaianni Leave a Comment

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Where does your self-worth come from if it isn’t instilled in you from your parents or caretakers? There is a path to a higher sense of self-worth and self-esteem. It may not be an easy path, but it does exist.

In this episode, I read a message from someone who’s father prefers his new family over his old one.

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Escaping the Real World – Kids and the Narcissistic Parent – The Isolation of the Child Sexual Abuse Survivor

November 26, 2017 By Paul Colaianni Leave a Comment

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Do you fantasize, daydream, play video games or watch TV in hopes that you won’t have to deal with reality?

It’s not all bad but anything in moderation, right? In the first segment of this episode, I talk about the benefits of skipping reality for a little bit as long as you connect with yourself in other ways. [Read more…]

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Reconnecting With Family As The New You

July 22, 2017 By Paul Colaianni Leave a Comment

One of the hardest steps to take after any level of personal growth and development is introducing the new you to those who know you best:

Family

I stayed out of touch with my father for 10 years(!) until I heard that he was dying. 10 years previous to that, I made the choice to stay away from him because our conversations never really seemed to be about how much he missed me and wanted to spend time with me, they’d almost always end with him asking me for money.
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Rekindling with toxic family – The long-term results of honoring yourself – Even the victim plays a role – Contact or no contact your ex

June 18, 2017 By Paul Colaianni Leave a Comment

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How do you go about rekindling with toxic and / or dysfunctional family members? Is it worth “going home” and starting up those old, dysfunctional, family get-togethers again?

Is it possible to avoid the toxicity of family past? There is a way to return to a toxic family environment but it’s going to take some courage to be the person you want to be with the people that have always known you the way you were. I talk about that and more in segment one. [Read more…]

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