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It is quite difficult to create healthy boundaries, but it also is vital for one's emotional well-being. Many individuals, especially those raised in emotionally neglectful or unstable environments, struggle to set and maintain them. This often leads to unhealthy behaviors, such as codependency, low self-esteem, and emotional burnout. Reparenting is an therapeutic approach, which focuses on healing childhood emotional wounds while creating healthier bonds with boundaries in adulthood.
In this blog, we will explore how reparenting works. And how it helps individuals heal emotional wounds by enhancing coping skills and communication skills. Additionally, we will highlight the role of online therapy, particularly in India. Also discuss different treatment plans in Rocket Health India that can support your journey for improving emotional well-being.
What is Reparenting?
Reparenting is a therapy technique that helps people address the unmet emotional needs of their inner child. These experiences usually form during early childhood. Research from Frontiers in Psychology shows that many adults face emotional issues, like codependency and setting healthy boundaries. These stem from unresolved childhood trauma or unmet emotional needs (Perlman, 2019).
People who had unstable households or emotionally unavailable parents may struggle to establish appropriate boundaries later in life. Reparenting helps by allowing adults to provide the care and nurture they require but did not experience as children. This process allows people to mend emotional wounds (also known as reparation) and rebuild emotional resilience.
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Common Disorders Linked to Poor Boundaries
Several emotional and psychological conditions are closely associated with weak or dysfunctional boundaries. These conditions make it difficult for individuals to create and maintain healthy boundaries. this often may lead to problems in relationships and overall emotional health. Here’s how mental health conditions relate to boundary issues:
Codependency
Codependency is an unhealthy pattern in which people rely excessively on others for emotional support. Often at the expense of their own well-being. A research published in The Journal of Counseling & Development found that a lack of boundaries frequently leads to codependency. This also results in emotional tiredness and resentment. Reparenting helps by addressing the unmet needs that have unhealthy behaviours and also helps in promoting autonomy.
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
BPD is defined by high emotions, unstable relationships, and difficulties setting boundaries. Individuals with BPD frequently experience intense fear of abandonment, which causes unexpected behaviours in relationships with others and other social situations.
Linehan et al. (1991) discovered that patients with BPD frequently struggle with boundary issues due to emotional dysregulation, negative emotions, and feelings of emptiness. Such disorders may be the result of attachment patterns formed throughout infancy. Such issues may stem from attachment patterns developed during infancy.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD)
People with NPD often have poor boundaries because they tend to place their own needs above others. Lacking empathy, they might violate boundaries in personal or social interactions, believing their desires take precedence over others. This can happen especially in romantic relationships and other areas of life, which might lead to toxic relationships.
Attachment Disorders
People with attachment disorders often experience boundary issues in their relationships. These attachments develop during childhood, usually due to inconsistent caregiving or emotional neglect from a primary caregiver. According to Dozier et al. (2008), attachment disorders affect how individuals form emotional connections and regulate their feelings. As a result, they may either avoid intimacy or become overly dependent, this can make it hard to create and maintain healthy boundaries.
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Anxiety Disorders
People with anxiety disorders often feel overwhelming stress when trying to set boundaries. This anxiety usually comes from a fear of rejection or conflict. Alden and Taylor (2004) found those with anxiety often go out of their way to avoid making people upset. While doing this they often neglect and overextend themselves. Over time this leads to burnout and makes anxiety symptoms worse.
Steps to Treating Boundary Issues with Reparenting
Reparenting is a therapeutic approach that offers structured treatment options to heal boundary issues, especially those stemming from early childhood. These steps can help you meet your emotional needs, improve emotional regulation and establish healthy relationships.
Recognize Your Inner Child
The first step in reparenting is to identify and connect with your inner child. This part of you holds unmet emotional needs from past experiences. Reconnecting with your inner child helps you see how your early relationships shape your behaviour today. This makes you more aware of how those past experiences still affect your mental and emotional health.
Acknowledge Unmet Needs
Once you’ve connected with your inner child, it’s important to recognize the emotional needs that weren’t met growing up. These could be a lack of love, validation, or emotional safety from your primary caregiver. According to Siegel (2001) understanding these unmet needs is essential for healing and building healthy boundaries in adulthood. Failing to address these can lead to mental health conditions, such as anxiety or attachment disorders, which may feel overwhelming in daily life.
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Communicate with Your Inner Child
Talking to your inner child is a great way to provide the emotional support you missed out on as a child. Mental health professionals like Watson et al. (2012) recommend using techniques such as affirmations, guided meditations, or journaling to help start that conversation. By offering reassurance and emotional safety to your inner child, you can reframe negative beliefs that may have formed from past emotional abuse, which affects your ability to set healthy boundaries.
Set and Practise Healthy Boundaries
Setting boundaries is a skill that needs practice. Start small by saying "no" to minor requests or setting limits in less stressful situations. This can start with a friend or a romantic partner. As Smith and Bergin (2001) suggest, practising these boundaries consistently will help improve your emotional well-being and prevent emotional burnout. Over time, you can establish more significant boundaries, helping to maintain healthier social interactions and relationships.
Forgive Yourself and Show Self-Compassion
Healing takes time, and it’s important to be kind to yourself throughout the process. Neff (2003) found that people who are kind to themselves during the process of healing are better able to overcome feelings of guilt or shame that might come up when setting boundaries. Learning how to forgive yourself for past mistakes, such as struggles with substance abuse or codependency, helps you to grow emotionally and grow stronger boundaries for the future.
Why Is Online Therapy Effective for Reparenting?
Online therapy has become an effective way to tackle emotional and mental health conditions such as boundary problems, anxiety, and attachment disorders. In India, mental health professionals such as Manohar et al. (2020) found that online therapy works just as well as in person therapy for treating trauma and improving emotional regulation.
One of the biggest benefits of online therapy is that it provides a safe, easily accessible and private space for people to work through these difficult issues. In cultures where family dynamics play a significant role, online therapy helps individuals feel safe as they explore childhood experiences and learn better coping skills for long term emotional well being.
How Rocket Health India Can Help?
Rocket Health India offers specialised online therapy services designed to meet the unique needs of individuals. The therapists here are experienced in reparenting techniques, helping clients work through different issues. By focusing on emotional regulation and setting boundaries clients can build healthier relationships and avoid burnout.
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Rocket Health India also offers support groups, offering a community for those feeling isolated or overwhelmed by mental health conditions. These support groups allows individuals to gain new perspectives on their challenges while receiving support from mental health professionals.
Conclusion
Reparenting is a powerful method for healing emotional wounds and creating healthier boundaries. By reconnecting with your inner child and addressing unmet needs, you can improve your emotional regulation and build stronger, healthier relationships. Whether you're dealing with codependency, attachment disorders, or past emotional abuse, reparenting can lead to emotional well-being.
Online therapy, especially through Rocket Health India, provides a valuable tool for anyone looking to improve their mental health. With expert support, clients can address conditions like anxiety and develop the skills necessary to create healthy, long-term boundaries in life. If you’re ready to heal past emotional wounds and create healthier boundaries, reach out to Rocket Health India today. Our skilled mental health professionals are here to support you in your journey to better emotional well-being.
References
Noda, S., Hamasaki, U., Sasaki, Y., & Shirotsuki, K. (2020). Relationships among social anxiety, fear of negative evaluation from others, avoidance behavior, and self-disclosure. Journal of Health Psychology Research, 32(2), 65–74. https://doi.org/10.11560/jhpr.180531102
Campbell, W. K., & Miller, J. D. (2011). The Handbook of Narcissism and Narcissistic Personality Disorder: Theoretical Approaches, Empirical Findings, and Treatments. John Wiley & Sons.
Austin, A. A., Simpkins, E. S., Kaminski, P. L., Huynh, J., Forrest, K. B., Baumann, C., & Green, M. (2011). Role of attachment in the intergenerational transmission of abuse: From childhood victimisation to adult revictimization and distress [Dataset]. In PsycEXTRA Dataset. https://doi.org/10.1037/e714032011-001
Shelton, D., Kesten, K., Zhang, W., & Trestman, R. (2011). Impact of a Dialectic Behavior Therapy-Corrections Modified (DBT-CM) Upon Behaviorally Challenged Incarcerated Male Adolescents. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 24(2), 105–113. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6171.2011.00275.x
Mearns, D., & Cooper, M. (2017). Working at Relational Depth in Counselling and Psychotherapy. SAGE.
Baradon, T., Biseo, M., Broughton, C., James, J., & Joyce, A. (2016). The Practice of Psychoanalytic Parent-Infant Psychotherapy: Claiming the Baby. Routledge.
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