Legacy of Shame and the Addictive Process. Claudia Black

Even within the family system, trauma can be exceptionally blatant—family violence, physical abuse, and sexual abuse. Yet, in many families, it’s going to be even more subtle than that. It is about living with fear on a chronic basis at that time in your life when you’re developing your sense of worth, your identity and when you’re developing beliefs about yourself, other people, and the world at large. I’m talking about living in fear on a chronic basis as a five-year-old, a seven-year-old, a twelve-year-old, or a fifteen-year-old child.