Parents are indeed capable of routinely torturing their children without anyone interceding.

All children are born to grow, to develop, to live, to love, and to articulate their needs and feelings for their self-protection

That probably greatest of narcissistic wounds -- not to have been loved just as one truly was -- cannot heal without the work of mourning.

For the human soul is virtually indestructible, and its ability to rise from the ashes remains as long as the body draws breath.

The art of not experiencing feelings. A child can experience her feelings only when there is somebody there who accepts her fully, understands her, and supports her. If that person is missing, if the child must risk losing the mother's love of her substitute in order to feel, then she will repress emotions.

Genuine forgiveness does not deny anger but faces it head-on.

What is addiction, really? It is a sign, a signal, a symptom of distress. It is a language that tells us about a plight that must be understood.