I can relate. My T tried to call my parents abusive. I agree with the emotional/verbal abuse part. However, I do think that they did the best they could. I think they meant no harm. However, sometimes parents will abuse their kid(s) without meaning to harm the kid in anyway. Sometimes the parents just have issues of their own that interfere with their ability to parent their kids. This is where I have a problem in labeling it abuse because abuse means that the parents deliberately did something wrong in my mind But, I doubt that my T would think that the parents deliberately did anything wrong. She probably defines abuse in a different way than I do. I suspect that she would believe me when I say they did the best they could. They just criticized me alot and used physical forms of punishment. She would probably point out that the effect on the child is similar regardless of whether the parent intended harm or did it because of a mental illness of their own. So, I suspect that you might have the same problem I do in that I feel that by labeling my childhood as an abusive childhood, I am in some way blaming my parents. I suspect that my T and other Ts would state that a parent can do the best they can at raising their kids and still be abusive due to their own dysfunction