Reclaiming the Self

Abstract

The reclaiming process is like being on your very own personal yellow brick road that leads you to Oz. In Oz, you find your authentic self. Along this road, there are many different parts of you that have been rejected, abandoned, or never discovered during childhood. In the reclaiming process, you journey along the road and pick up those precious lost pieces of your original package. Some of these pieces are reclaimed, and some are discovered for the first time. Some of them you have known about, but because of the great need to survive, you could not stop and develop them. In a more normal childhood, your parents work to help you discover, accept, and develop the original package. In a dysfunctional family, parents rarely help and usually damage this process.