Signs of Childhood Neglect in Adults and The Impact on Mental Health
Childhood neglect can leave lasting scars, often showing up in adulthood in ways you might not even notice. Sometimes, it’s difficult and often painful to recognize how your past shapes your thoughts, actions, and feelings today. As an IFS-Informed trauma therapist in Denver, a focus of my practice is working with people who are just starting to see how their childhood experiences have affected their adult lives. Together, we look at these connections and begin the healing process. In this blog, I’ll talk about the signs of childhood neglect in adults and how therapy models like IFS and attachment theory can support your journey to healing.
If you're in the Denver area and ready to heal from adult childhood trauma, I'm here to help. Book a consultation today to begin your journey toward a healthier, more fulfilling life.
Understanding Childhood Neglect
Childhood neglect is more than just the absence of physical care. It often includes a lack of emotional support, affection, validation, and consistent presence. When children grow up without these essential elements, it can leave them feeling unworthy, unseen, or unimportant. These experiences can be deeply internalized, shaping how individuals relate to themselves and others well into adulthood.
In working with clients struggling with adult childhood trauma in Denver, it is important to recognize the link between narratives we hold about ourselves now and childhood trauma. Recognizing these patterns is the first step toward understanding how past neglect is still affecting you today.
The Physical and Neurological Impact of Childhood Neglect in Adults
Childhood neglect doesn’t just affect your emotions; it can also impact your brain's development and your physical health. Studies show that ongoing neglect can change the brain's structure, influencing areas that control stress, emotions, and memory. As an adult, this might show up as constant stress, difficulty with emotion regulation, or even physical issues like headaches or stomach problems.
How Childhood Neglect Show Up in Adult Mental Health
Signs of childhood neglect in adults can show up in many ways. You might notice some of the following patterns in your own behavior:
Difficulty forming or maintaining relationships: Difficulty trusting others or setting healthy boundaries.
Fear of abandonment or rejection: Leading to anxious behaviors or pushing people away to avoid being hurt.
Low self-esteem: Feeling unworthy of love or doubting your worth in social or work settings.
Dissociation (emotional numbness): Struggling to connect with your own feelings or feeling disconnected from your life.
Difficulty managing stress: Experiencing chronic anxiety or having a higher stress response to perceived minor triggers.
It is important to recognize that attachment styles can show up both romantic relationships and friendships. As an adult childhood trauma therapist in Denver, I believe this is where IFS and attachment theory can be so helpful. With IFS, we look at the parts of you that are trying to protect you from getting hurt. These parts may make you distant or guarded, but by understanding them, we can start to heal the deeper pain that drives these parts.
Coping Mechanisms and Behavioral Patterns
Adults who experienced childhood neglect often develop coping mechanisms to survive their emotional pain. These might include perfectionism, people-pleasing, self-sabotaging behaviors, or numbing out through addictive behaviors. While these habits might have helped you get through tough times as a kid, they can keep you from finding real happiness and connection as an adult.
Understanding why you do what you do is crucial to changing these patterns. Using IFS-Informed practice, attachment theory, and other methods, we can gently shift these old patterns into healthier ways of being that help you grow and feel more connected.
Healing from Childhood Neglect in Adulthood
Healing from the effects of childhood neglect on adults is absolutely possible, but it takes time, patience, and the right support. I offer several types of therapy in Denver, like EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and IFS-Informed therapy, that are highly effective for treating adult childhood trauma. These approaches help you process the past and create new, healthier ways of connecting with yourself and others.
Building healthy relationships, practicing self-care, and learning self-compassion are also key parts of healing. When you start treating yourself with the kindness you may not have gotten as a child, you begin to rewrite your narrative. I am a believer in focusing on small, daily acts of self-kindness, as these can slowly change how you see yourself and your place in the world.
Moving Forward
If you see signs of childhood neglect in your own life and you’re ready to heal, know that you’re not alone. If you're looking for help with adult childhood trauma in Denver, I’m here to support you. Whether it’s through IFS-Informed therapy, exploring how it connects to attachment theory, or using other methods, I’m ready to work with you.
Book a consultation today, and let’s start your journey toward healing and building a brighter future.