You can find more traditional Shakespeare than we do. But what we want to bring to these works is energy, passion, freshness. — John Bradshaw Energy Copy Share Image
The figure of Satan and the fires of hell have been demythologized by modern Christian biblical scholars, theologians and philosophers. — John Bradshaw Copy Share Image
To truly be committed to a life of honesty, love and discipline, we must be willing to commit ourselves to reality. — John Bradshaw Copy Share Image
In my family, as in all dysfunctional families, instead of parents who act as strong and nurturing role models for their children,… — John Bradshaw Copy Share Image
“Shame is internalized when one is abandoned. Abandonment is the precise term to describe how one loses one’s authentic self and ceases… — John Bradshaw Abandonment Copy Share Image
“One of the significant lessons in my life was given me by Abraham Low, the founder of Recovery, Inc. He said that… — John Bradshaw Life Copy Share Image
Condemning others as bad or sinful is a way to feel righteous. Such a feeling is a powerful mood alteration and can… — John Bradshaw Copy Share Image
“The disowned part of self is an energy - an emotion or desire or need, that has been shamed every time it… — John Bradshaw Emotions Copy Share Image
The spiritual quest is not some added benefit to our life, something you embark on if you have the time and inclination.… — John Bradshaw Adventure Copy Share Image
“The roles are like scripts given out for a play. They prescribe what feelings you can or cannot have. After playing my… — John Bradshaw Copy Share Image
“It is very common for one or both parents in a dysfunctional marriage to bond inappropriately with one of their children. The… — John Bradshaw Child Copy Share Image
“When Herkamer tells her he hates her, she cries, telling him that maybe someday she won’t be home when he wants her.… — John Bradshaw Feeling terrible Copy Share Image
“Grandiosity results from the human will becoming disabled. The will is disabled primarily through the shaming of the emotions. The shamed and… — John Bradshaw Psychology Copy Share Image
“CONVERSION I spoke of affect and need conversion when I described how Max compensated for his abusive and neglectful abandonment by converting… — John Bradshaw Communication Copy Share Image
“To develop strong ego boundaries, children need parents with strong boundaries. No shame-based parent has these. Toxic shame greatly damages our boundaries.… — John Bradshaw Boundaries Copy Share Image
“SHAME AS AN IDENTITY (THE INTERNALIZATION PROCESS) Any human emotion can become internalized. When internalized, an emotion stops functioning as an emotion… — John Bradshaw Guilt Copy Share Image
“Feral cats are remarkably silent compared to domestic cats (except during fighting and courtship, notoriously noisy activities); in particular, such cats rarely… — John Bradshaw Cats Copy Share Image
“A very young child cannot understand that his dad is a sick alcoholic. Children are limited in logical ability. Their earliest way… — John Bradshaw Children Copy Share Image
“IDENTIFICATION When victimization takes place the victim often identifies with the persecutor. By so doing the victim no longer feels the helplessness… — John Bradshaw Shame Copy Share Image
“Alice Miller has summed up these rules under the title “Poisonous Pedagogy” in her book For Your Own Good. These rules state:… — John Bradshaw Child Copy Share Image
“Toxic shame, the shame that binds us, is experienced as the all-pervasive sense that “I am flawed and defective as a human… — John Bradshaw Guilt Copy Share Image
“Blushing manifests the exposure, the unexpectedness, the involuntary nature of shame. In On Shame and the Search for Identity Helen Lynd writes,… — John Bradshaw Blushing Copy Share Image
“When emotionally abandoned people describe their childhoods, it is always without feeling. Alice Miller writes, They recount their earliest memories without any… — John Bradshaw Childhood Copy Share Image
“Toxic shame, with its more-than-human, less-than-human polarization, is either inhuman or dehumanizing. The demand for a false self to cover and hide… — John Bradshaw Authentic self Copy Share Image
“A person with internalized shame believes he is inherently flawed, inferior and defective.Such a feeling is so painful that defending scripts (or… — John Bradshaw Addiction Copy Share Image
“THE INTERCONNECTION OF MEMORY IMPRINTS THAT FORM COLLAGES OF SHAME As shaming experiences accrue and are defended against, the images created by… — John Bradshaw Grief Copy Share Image
“(b) Boundary Violation. This involves children witnessing parents in sexual behavior. They may walk in on it because parents don’t provide closed… — John Bradshaw Children Copy Share Image
“When two-year-olds are thwarted (like every three minutes), they have intense anger and temper tantrums. At this stage the child needs to… — John Bradshaw Child Copy Share Image
“Much has been written about codependency. All agree that it is about the loss of selfhood. Codependency is a condition wherein one… — John Bradshaw Happiness Copy Share Image
“Operant conditioning is not confined to deliberate training; it is one way that cats learn how to deal with whatever surroundings they… — John Bradshaw Cats Copy Share Image
“the male cat’s penis is equipped with 120 to 150 sharp spines, designed to trigger her ovulation (cats, unlike humans, do not… — John Bradshaw Copy Share Image
“I see affect or feeling as the primary innate biological motivating mechanism, more urgent than drive deprivation and pleasure and more urgent… — John Bradshaw Motivation Copy Share Image
Recovery begins with embracing our pain and taking the risk to share it with others. We do this by joining a group… — John Bradshaw Copy Share Image
“Toxically shamed people tend to become more and more stagnant as life goes on. They live in a guarded, secretive and defensive… — John Bradshaw Guilt Copy Share Image
“In fact, the most paradoxical aspect of neurotic shame is that it is the core motivator of the superachieved and the underachieved,… — John Bradshaw Copy Share Image
Many self-help books give you these neat, tidy formulas that are really illusions. They dupe people into thinking, 'Well if I can… — John Bradshaw Books Copy Share Image
“One is free from depression,” writes Alice Miller in The Drama of the Gifted Child, “when self-esteem is based on the authenticity… — John Bradshaw Children Copy Share Image
When I walked out of the seminary, I was 31, but I was like a scared, frightened kid. I had no place… — John Bradshaw Catholic Copy Share Image
“DYNAMIC HOMEOSTASIS Dynamic homeostasis means that whenever a part of the system is out of balance, the rest of the members of… — John Bradshaw Copy Share Image
True love heals and affects spiritual growth. If we do not grow because of someone else’s love, it’s generally because it is… — John Bradshaw Copy Share Image
