Our Whole Childhood with Patrick Teahan

Episod

• The Mind of the Artist w/ William Todd Schultz 07.06.2026 1j 42min

  In this episode, Patrick Teahan, MSW, is joined by personality psychologist William Todd Schultz to explore the complicated emotional landscape of family estrangement and how early childhood loss intersects with creative expression. Todd specializes in profiles of artists and has published books such as Tiny Terror on Truman Capote, An Emergency in Slow Motion on Diane Arbus, Torment Saint on Elliott Smith, and The Mind of the Artist. Together, they detail how childhood trauma and the death o...
• Explode or Shut Down? The 2 Types of Repressed Rage 19.05.2026 36min

  In this episode, Patrick Teahan, MSW, explores the profound impact of rage as a byproduct of childhood trauma, detailing how unsafe environments force children to either weaponize or absorb intense emotional energy. He introduces the concept of inward and outward rage, moving beyond the stigma of "anger issues" to focus on the underground emotional deposits that develop when a child is erased, ignored, or exposed to volatility. The episode begins by unpacking a complex dynamic: the four speci...
• Why You Blame Yourself for Everything 12.05.2026 23min

  In this episode, Patrick Teahan, MSW, explores the profound impact of growing up in an abusive or neglectful environment, detailing how childhood trauma survivors often struggle with intense self-blame and self-hatred. He introduces the concept of emotional math, moving beyond simple advice to just be kinder to yourself, focusing instead on the deep rooted self-contempt that develops when children lack a healthy adult guide. The episode begins by unpacking a complex dynamic: the development o...
• Top 3 Signs of Growing up Too Fast 06.04.2026 15min

  In this episode, Patrick Teahan, MSW, explores the profound impact of unsafe home environments, detailing how childhood trauma forces kids to trade their early years for survival. He introduces the concept of the survival exchange, moving beyond simple symptom management to focus on the deep rooted hypervigilance that develops when growing up around chaos, neglect, or emotional abuse. The episode begins by unpacking a complex dynamic: the development of a highly sensitive radar system in plac...
• Are You Sure They're Safe? 29.03.2026 28min

  In this episode, Patrick Teahan, MSW, dives into the complex world of intuition and safety: how childhood trauma can break our internal radar and how to tell the difference between a safe person and an unsafe one. He introduces a framework centered on Authenticity, moving beyond simple checklists of red flags to focus on the gut-level ick that signals when a person’s public performance doesn't match their private motives. The episode begins with a nuanced workplace hypothetical: a new coworke...
• When History Repeats: The Golden Child Gets Betrayed 02.03.2026 37min

  In this episode, Patrick Teahan, MSW, explores a difficult and personal topic: how abusive family dynamics can scale into larger systems, and what happens when legal authority functions like an abusive parent. He introduces a framework he calls the Abusive Parent State, using trauma pattern recognition to connect family systems language to collective trauma. Rather than staying inside the usual home-based roles, Patrick widens the lens to examine how gaslighting, enforcer dynamics, and discar...
• My Highschool Bully 25.02.2026 34min

  In this episode, Patrick, explores why memories of school bullies can still feel visceral years later, even after you have done a lot of healing work. Using a poll with over 2,000 participants, Patrick breaks down the different ways bullying can stick in the nervous system, from occasional intense flashbacks to lingering resentment and revenge fantasies. Rather than treating bullying as a standalone issue, Patrick connects it to childhood trauma and family systems. He explains how bullies oft...
• The Feeling of Being “In Trouble” 11.02.2026 19min

  In this episode, Patrick Teahan, MSW, explores the baseline feeling of being “in trouble”, that constant sense that someone is mad at you, you did something wrong, or you are about to be shamed. He breaks down why this internal alarm is so common in childhood trauma and how it can follow people into adulthood through imposter syndrome, anxiety dreams, and chronic hypervigilance. Rather than treating it like a personality flaw, Patrick connects the “in trouble” feeling to shame-based family sy...
• Ireland—Where Flashbacks Pass Away 04.02.2026 29min

  In this episode, Patrick shares a personal story about what it can look like when long-held trauma responses begin to loosen after years of recovery work and how flashbacks can shift into quieter moments of recognition instead of distress. Rather than focusing on symptoms alone, Patrick connects the body-level experience of trauma anniversaries, shame attacks, and emotional flashbacks to the family system that created them, including emotionally immature parenting, addiction, domestic violenc...
• Was This Your Family? (9 Oddly Specific Family Issues) 16.01.2026 34min

  In this episode, Patrick Teahan, MSW, explores nine rarely named but deeply damaging family dynamics that quietly shape childhood trauma and follow people into adulthood. Rather than focusing on symptoms alone, Patrick breaks down the dysfunctional family systems behind them—the unspoken rules, emotional roles, and survival patterns that distort self-worth, boundaries, and relationships. As a follow-up to 11 Oddly Specific Childhood Trauma Issues, this episode examines how growing up in emoti...
• 5 Types of Lost Childhood Personalities 05.01.2026 28min

  This episode explores how childhood trauma and emotionally unsafe parenting can cause us to lose touch with our original personality, the self we were born with before survival, compliance, and shame took over. Through personal stories and clinical insight, Patrick explains how emotionally immature or abusive parents distort a child’s sense of self by mislabeling innate traits as problems. Poor emotional mirroring, lack of goodness of fit, and pressure to comply can force a child’s spark unde...
• Why Are Victims Expected to Do All the Work? 17.11.2025 24min

  This episode tells the story of Thomas, a survivor who went no contact with his abusive father after a public meltdown at his wedding, and how the world around him quietly blames him for the relationship he didn’t break. From well-meaning coworkers saying “all families have stuff,” to relatives insisting “you’ll have to let it go,” Patrick explores why the burden to forgive and reconnect so often falls on the person who was hurt, not the person who caused the harm. Learn how survivors l...
• Toxic Mothers and the Impact on Daughters 24.10.2025 46min

  This episode explores how growing up with a toxic or emotionally unavailable mother can shape a daughter’s sense of worth, identity, and boundaries, and how to finally break free. Rather than focusing on blame, Patrick unpacks the lasting emotional damage that daughters carry into adulthood and the path toward self-trust and emotional independence. Learn why patterns like people-pleasing, guilt, and over-responsibility aren’t flaws, they’re survival strategies that once kept you safe. Through...
• Breaking Free From a Narcissistic Parent 15.10.2025 29min

  This episode explores how growing up with a narcissistic or emotionally immature parent can distort your perception of yourself, others, and your worth, and how to reclaim it. Instead of fixating on the parent, we look at the damage that lingers and the path to undo it. Learn why triggers around work, relationships, and self-doubt aren’t personality flaws—they're leftover survival responses from childhood. Patrick shares vulnerable personal stories about being cast as “the dumb one” and how t...
• 4 Tools to Fix Triggers 22.09.2025 26min

  This episode dives into the ways childhood trauma shows up in daily triggers—and how to break free from them faster. Learn how your past shapes present reactions and discover practical tools to release the emotional charge that keeps you stuck. Topics include: Understanding how triggers connect past and presentFour actionable tools for regulating emotional triggersHealing practices for body and mindReclaiming your time, energy, and creativity from traumaJoin us for an empowering conversation ...
• Answering Your Questions! - Social Challenges 15.09.2025 15min

  This episode explores the ways childhood trauma survivors often feel left out in friendships and social situations, and how those early family patterns show up in adult connections. Topics include: Struggling to “jump in” during conversationsStarting friendships but pulling away quicklyFeeling “too much” or too intense for othersHow family modeling shapes social shameInner child work and dialoguing prompts for healingJoin us for an honest, compassionate conversation on finding belonging and b...
• Stop Fawning with Dr. Ingrid Clayton 09.09.2025 1j 10min

  In this episode, Patrick sits down with Dr. Ingrid Clayton to unpack fawning, the often-missed, deeply relational trauma response: why “people-pleasing” isn’t what it seems, how power dynamics shape it, and first steps toward taking up space—without turning into someone you’re not. Order your copy of Fawning: Why the Need to Please Makes Us Lose Ourselves—and How to Find Our Way Back today! ORDER HERE Join the Healing Community! Join the Monthly Healing Community Membership
• Healing From Toxic Mothers 08.09.2025 58min

  This episode explores in-depth how emotionally immature or abusive mothers impact their sons long into adulthood. Keep an eye out for two more parts of this series! Topics include: Feeling triggered by other women - imaginary or realDifferent types of toxic mothersReplicating patterns from our childhood traumaTips for healing and building healthy relationships Join us for an insightful conversation on healing and finding emotional balance. Keywords: Childhood trauma, toxic mother...
• Toxic Fathers & The Daughters They Leave Behind 16.07.2025 44min

  Toxic Fathers & The Daughters They Leave Behind I hope this episode was helpful and or thought provoking for you. Please like, follow or comment w/questions. For in depth journal prompts, subscribe to my YouTube channel for video versions of these episodes! Join the Healing Community! Join the Monthly Healing Community Membership
• Why You’re Stuck with C-PTSD (And How to Heal) 09.07.2025 19min

  Why Your C-PTSD Isn't Getting Better Topics covered: sense of self, childhood trauma, DSO, CPTSD, PTSD, relationship problems, emotional triggers, psychology, assessment, measurable goals, journal prompts, childhood trauma, trauma response, attachment. In this episode I go over Disturbances in Self-Organization, a diagnostic criteria set that separates PTSD from C-PTSD. We can fine tune our healing efforts if we know which of the three DSO ideas affects our functioning the most. This ep...