DEAR FRIENDS- I hope you will read- and share- the blog I published today entitled "Stop Spanking Now! Why Spanking Leads to Lifelong Emotional Pain". This previously "forbidden knowledge" of the real and traumatic impact of spanking on the child- and the parents!- is desperately needed medicine for billions of us around the world who are trapped in the darkness of the "generational cycle of violence". .
The world is slowly awakening to the terrible toll that parent-child violence such as spanking or sexual abuse takes. After centuries of complete cultural and social denial we are beginning to come out of denial about how these betrayals of love break childrens' open and trusting hearts and wound their innocent spirits.  
But there is an equally grave harm being unwittingly passed from generation to generation. And the cleansing light of compassion and awareness needs to shine upon it as well. Verbal humiliation, emotional manipulation, power games by the parents to bend the child to their will/needs/expectations can be just as damaging as physical abuse/spanking and sexual abuse. These non-physical traumas are not as highly publicized or understood as the physical ones- and this can make it very difficult for the adult who is chronically anxious/depressed/self-doubting/unhappy to point to something concrete and know why they are in the pain they are in. This is why I constantly write about these types of non-physical traumas- so that people can gain validation that the painful treatment they suffered is real and just as hurtful and serious as any other form of abuse.
Unconditionally loving yourself means that you take your own pain and mistreatment- whatever its origin- as seriously as you would that of a helpless and utterly innocent child. A child who needs you to see what happened to him/her and care enough to come to the rescue. Like a devoted Mother who will do anything necessary to heal her beloved little one.
Recognizing that your pain is real and needing all of your tenderness and compassion is the most loving and healing thing you can ever do for yourself. From all that I've been through on my own road to healing, I am certain that you too can love yourself back to the happiness you have always deserved. LOTS OF LOVE- BRYAN