I think to a certain extent that need for a parent will always be there, but you can fill it in different ways so that need doesn't take precedence over all the other needs in your life. I feel like for me at certain stages in my life, that need was front and center and pretty much everything I did was so I could get an adult to notice me and pay me a certain kind of attention. And although I sometimes find myself acting in those same old ways, it's a lot less now, and I don't get as triggered and the sadness isn't as deep when I see a little kid holding her mom's hand for example. So yes, there's still part of me that needs a mom, but that part is a lot smaller and a lot less salient, and I expect it to get even smaller and less salient as I continue to work through stuff. Well, I hope so anyway.