When you’ve grown up, but part of you still feels like a child.

Maybe you're independent, capable, and successful—but something changes when you're around your caregiver.

You may find yourself feeling small, defensive, anxious, guilty, or like you need to prove yourself all over again. You might dread going home, replay conversations afterward, or hear your parent's criticism in your own internal dialogue. At the same time, you may find yourself craving connection while worrying about being judged, rejected, or misunderstood.

Growing up with a highly critical parent can shape the way you see yourself and move through the world long after childhood ends. When criticism, high expectations, comparison, or conditional approval were a regular part of your upbringing, you may have learned to closely monitor yourself and others in order to avoid disappointment or rejection.

Those patterns can follow you into adulthood—affecting your self-esteem, relationships, boundaries, vulnerability, career and life choices, and ability to trust your own judgment.

You can love your family and still have boundaries. You can value connection without abandoning yourself.

We'll look at the patterns that show up in your life today with curiosity rather than blame. What happens when someone is disappointed in you? What happens in your body when you set a boundary? What makes it difficult to trust your own decisions? Where do you feel most like yourself, and where do you find yourself slipping back into an old role?

I integrate psychodynamic therapy, somatic approaches, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and other evidence-based interventions to explore these patterns from both the mind and body.

This may be for you if...

You find yourself:

  • Feeling like a child again when you're around your parent or family

  • Experiencing dread, anxiety, or guilt before going home or interacting with family

  • Constantly wondering whether you're doing enough or making the “right” choice

  • Being highly sensitive to criticism, disappointment, or perceived disapproval

  • Hearing your parent's voice in the way you talk to yourself

  • Struggling with perfectionism or feeling like nothing you accomplish is quite enough

  • Looking to others for reassurance or validation before trusting your own decisions

  • Having difficulty setting boundaries without feeling guilty

  • Craving closeness while simultaneously fearing judgment, rejection, or being hurt

  • Becoming hyper-independent because relying on others doesn't feel safe

  • Finding vulnerability difficult even when you deeply want connection

  • Questioning whether your relationships, career, parenting choices, or life direction are truly what you want

  • Feeling responsible for other people's emotions

  • Wanting to have a different relationship with your parent but not knowing what that could look like

You don't have to have had an obviously abusive childhood for these experiences to matter. Sometimes the impact comes from years of criticism, emotional invalidation, high expectations, comparison, control, or feeling that acceptance depended on who you were or what you accomplished.