Childhood Emotional Neglect

Sometimes the deepest wounds come from what didn't happen. Childhood Emotional Neglect occurs when parents fail to respond enough to a child's emotional needs. It's the absence of emotional attunement, the missing mirror that should have reflected back your feelings and experiences.

Signs You May Have Experienced Childhood Emotional Neglect:
• Feeling empty or disconnected
• Not knowing what you feel
• Believing your needs don't matter
• Chronic self-doubt
• High self-criticism
• Difficulty asking for help
• Feeling like you're different from everyone else
• Struggles with self-discipline
• Tendency to overthink

The Challenge of Identifying CEN
Unlike active abuse, emotional neglect is hard to spot because it's about what was missing. You might have had parents who provided for your physical needs but couldn't connect emotionally. Many adults with CEN believe they had "good childhoods" yet struggle with unexplainable emptiness.

How Therapy Helps Heal CEN:
• Learn to identify and express emotions
• Develop self-validation skills
• Build healthy relationships with yourself and others
• Create strong, appropriate boundaries
• Discover and honor your needs
• Connect with your authentic self
• Break the cycle of emotional neglect

Our Approach to CEN Recovery
Using a combination of attachment-based therapy, emotional awareness training, and practical skill-building, we'll work together to fill the emotional gaps left by childhood neglect. You'll learn to parent yourself, trust your feelings, and create the emotional connections you deserve.

Ready to begin your healing journey?