Learning all you can about Love Addiction is vital to recovery.
Love addiction is an addiction to a fantasy – not really to a person. The love addict medicates with the fantasy of the Knight in Shining Armour or Happy Family walking off into the sunset! This fantasy begins usually at a young age because of the trauma of abandonment, neglect or abuse.
To obtain relief from this addiction, recovery must involve inner child work to heal the childhood wounds of trauma and purge the body of that “child feeling reality” (Pia Mellody)
Inner Child work requires that one connect to that helpless child (ego state inside) that truly was a victim and begin to meet those needs now that were not met then.
How can I go back and redo my childhood? You may be asking. That’s not what we’re talking about here. We must also grieve our childhood losses as well. But meeting those needs now means having a relationship in the now with that part of us – being in touch with our bodies’ needs, our feelings, our desires, dreams and goals.
For instance, a part of me always may have wanted to learn to paint. I can be so stuck in childhood pain that I may never give myself permission to try this. Inner child work would require that I strengthen the Functional Adult part of me and go take the risk. The more I attempt to fulfill the dreams of that part of me the greater the connection and healing. At a recent lecture given by John Bradshaw, he stated that there are several studies that point to the high probability that Inner Child Work changes brain chemistry – for the better!
A good book that might help you with this process is Recovery of Your Inner Child by Lucia Cappicione.
If you would like any help Recovering Your Inner Child, please call me. Let me help you in your Journey to Transformation!!!