The Healing In Progress Podcast

Have you ever worked hard to stop people pleasing, started setting healthier boundaries, and then found yourself feeling lonelier than ever?In this episode, I'm exploring a part of healing that doesn't get talked about enough: the loneliness that can appear after you stop abandoning yourself.Links: Membership Free TrialOrder my book; How to Heal From Emotionally Immature ParentsThe Self-Connection SystemMany of us learn early in life that connection comes through being agreeable, accommodating, helpful, or endlessly understanding. So when we begin saying no, speaking up, reducing contact with difficult family members, or stepping back from one-sided relationships, our relational world often changes.But what happens when healthier boundaries leave you questioning yourself? How do you know whether you're protecting your peace or pushing people away? What's the difference between healthy boundaries and emotional walls? And how do you build genuine connection without slipping back into old patterns of people pleasing?In this episode, I discuss:Why loneliness is often a normal part of childhood trauma recoveryThe hidden grief that can come with setting boundariesHow people pleasing shapes adult relationshipsThe difference between discomfort and danger in relationshipsWhy healthy relationships still involve conflict, misunderstandings and imperfectionHow to stop personalising other people's behaviourWhat healthy connection looks like after emotional healingIf you've ever wondered whether you've become "too strict," "too independent," or "too much" since starting your healing journey, this episode will help you understand why the space between old patterns and healthier relationships can feel so uncomfortable—and why it doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong.Keywords: people pleasing, boundaries, childhood trauma, emotional healing, relationship boundaries, childhood emotional neglect, family relationships, trauma recovery, emotional resilience, healthy relationships, self-worth, personal growth, emotional immaturity, healing from childhood trauma.

What happens after you finally create distance from emotionally immature or dysfunctional parents, and instead of feeling free, you feel lost?In this episode, Sian Morgan-Crossley explores the complicated emotional aftermath of going low contact with family. We talk about why relief and grief often coexist, why boundaries can trigger guilt even when they are healthy, and how many adults unknowingly build their identity around managing other people’s emotions.Membership Free Trial: Membership Free TrialEmail in your dilemma: breakthecyclecoach@gmail.comThis conversation dives into the hidden psychological impact of emotionally immature parenting, childhood emotional neglect, hypervigilance, people-pleasing, and attachment wounds. We explore the deep grief of accepting that the relationship you longed for with your parents may never fully exist, and why that realization can feel like mourning both your childhood and your future hopes at the same time.I also discuss:Why going low contact can feel emotionally disorientingHow dysfunctional family roles shape personality and self-worthThe nervous system effects of growing up around emotional unpredictabilityGuilt, shame, and the fear of choosing yourselfHow to slowly rebuild a sense of self after emotional enmeshmentLearning who you are outside of survival, performance, and self-abandonmentIf you’ve ever questioned your decision to distance yourself from family, felt emotionally untethered after setting boundaries, or struggled to understand why healing feels both freeing and painful, this episode will help you feel deeply understood.

In this episode, I respond to a listener who shared something I know many people quietly wrestle with: the guilt that can arise when you begin healing from your childhood while also deeply understanding the pain your parents carried themselves.To send in your own question: breakthecyclecoach@gmail.comThe Self-Connection System: https://www.breakthecyclecoaching.co.uk/courses/new-course-13I explore what it’s like to grow up around parents who were carrying a lot of pain themselves, parents who were overwhelmed, stressed, emotionally unavailable, or struggling with wounds they never really healed from. When you grow up in that kind of environment, you often become very aware of other people’s emotions from a young age. You learn to focus on keeping the peace, understanding everyone else, and making space for their feelings, while slowly losing touch with your own.We talk about how this can follow you into adulthood too. The moment your own hurt, anger, sadness, or grief begins to surface, another part of you may quickly step in to defend your parents, explain their behaviour, or remind yourself how hard their lives were. And while that empathy is real and important, it can also pull you away from your own experience before you’ve really had the chance to sit with it.We also talk about the guilt that so many people feel when they start healing, especially when they were raised to believe other people’s needs and emotions mattered more than their own. It can feel incredibly painful to acknowledge what hurt you when you can also see how much your parents suffered themselves.Throughout the conversation, I talk about the importance of making space for your own feelings without immediately pushing them aside for someone else’s pain. It’s a gentle conversation about guilt, grief, emotional responsibility and self-abandonment.

In this episode, we explore what can happen when someone who has always been “the responsible one” in their family begins therapy and starts setting boundaries.This listener shares their experience of growing up feeling emotionally responsible for others, becoming the dependable, stable person everyone relied on. Although they’re successful on paper, they’ve realised they don’t really know who they are outside of taking care of other people.Join The Money Reset Course: https://www.breakthecyclecoaching.co.uk/courses/new-course-15Email to send in your question: breakthecyclecoach@gmail.comBuy my book 'How to Heal From Emotionally Immature Parents': https://hayhs.com/hthfeip_pp_pb_az In this conversation, we talk about:Why children in emotionally immature families often become highly responsible adultsThe connection between self-worth and being useful to othersWhy healthy boundaries can initially feel uncomfortable or wrongHow family systems often react when one person changesThe difference between emotional withdrawal and self-respectWhy healing can sometimes feel lonely in the short termHow to hold compassion for parents while still acknowledging emotional impactThis episode offers an honest discussion about healing from emotionally immature parenting without reducing family relationships to “good” or “bad,” and learning how to build a more authentic relationship with yourself.

In this episode, psychotherapist Sian Crossley answers a powerful listener question: Can you fully heal from emotionally immature parents while still staying in contact with them?Many people assume healing from childhood trauma or emotional neglect means cutting family members off completely. But what happens when you still love your parents, want a relationship with them, or don’t want estrangement to be the answer?Join The Money Reset Course: https://www.breakthecyclecoaching.co.uk/courses/new-course-15Email to send in your question: breakthecyclecoach@gmail.comBuy my book 'How to Heal From Emotionally Immature Parents': https://hayhs.com/hthfeip_pp_pb_az This episode explores how to make real emotional progress while remaining in contact with emotionally immature parents. Sian talks about the grief of accepting parents who cannot fully meet your emotional needs, the unconscious hope many adults carry that their parents will finally change, and why healing often requires changing expectations rather than trying to force emotional closeness that has never existed.You’ll learn how emotionally immature family dynamics continue affecting adult children long after childhood, why contact with parents can still feel emotionally draining or triggering, and how to stop abandoning yourself in order to maintain connection.This episode covers:Can you heal without cutting your parents off?Staying in contact with emotionally immature parentsHealing childhood emotional neglect in adulthoodGrieving the parents you needed but didn’t haveWhy family relationships can keep reopening old woundsEmotional boundaries with parentsHow to stop seeking validation from emotionally unavailable parentsMaintaining family relationships without losing yourselfNervous system responses around parents and familyWhat healing from emotionally immature parenting actually looks likeWhether you are struggling with guilt around boundaries, feeling emotionally stuck after family interactions, or trying to balance compassion for your parents with care for yourself, this episode offers a realistic and compassionate perspective on healing without estrangement.#EmotionallyImmatureParents #ChildhoodTrauma #EmotionalNeglect #HealingJourney #FamilyDynamics #TherapyPodcast #MentalHealthPodcast #Boundaries #AttachmentHealing #InnerChildHealing

In the first episode of Dear Sian I'm responding to a question about whether this listeners difficulty in their new relationship is a sign that it's not a good fit, or perhaps linked to their childhood and a sign of a trauma response. This listener is finding it hard to relax and trust in this relationship and I give them my take on this through a therapeutic lens.