Past & Present

​Becoming aware of how the past replicates itself in the present is a major component of psychological work since it provides a key to maturity and understanding. An event can be happening in the present and how we are dealing with it, and the emotions we experience, can be entirely dictated by something that happened in the past. A woman found herself going to Court to obtain a custody Order for her child. It was a standard and necessary procedure that was precautionary and the child was in no danger of being taken from her. Yet the fear of losing the child became all-consuming. The strength of the emotional reaction indicated something much deeper going on. The story unfolded that when she was five her mother had been abused by an uncle who had warned her that something terrible was going to happen if she broke their little secret. Her life from that time was characterized by anger, mistrust, guilt, low self-esteem, and poor self-confidence. She was kind hearted and helpful by nature and had tried to love others but without ever managing to love herself.