My former T's childhood was quite healthy, nothing like mine. She didn't tell me this directly but it was quite obvious from various things she mentioned about her family from time to time, her relationships with them. It wasn't a massive issue for me until later in therapy when I felt the need to explore the past more (until then we'd been looking at a lot of present issues) and she kept telling me she was sad that I simply couldn't 'let go of it.' One of her ideas was to go down the beach with a balloon and let it go!! Maybe it works for some, but not for me. When she said that i thought she really can't know what it's like to grow up with abuse and neglect. It takes more than a balloon to let go of it I'm afraid. That was one of the issues I had with her by the end.

I don't really know about current T's childhood but it's more than obvious she has suffered. I know one or two things about her current life and that's enough for me to know she hasn't had it easy. We've focussed a lot more on my past and she accepts it moulds who I am to a large extent.