🌿 Reflection: Reparenting

Parenting means providing what every child needs to grow: safety, love, guidance, and comfort. It’s not just about caring for the physical needs of food or shelter, but also nurturing the emotional space where a child can feel seen, protected, and accepted.

Reparenting is giving those same things to yourself now, the care you might not have fully received before as a kid. It means learning to listen to your own needs, to comfort yourself when you feel scared, and to set boundaries that keep me safe. It’s telling your inner child: You’re no longer alone. I’m here for you now. Sometimes reparenting is soft, like resting when tired or speaking kindly to yourself in. Sometimes it’s firm like saying no to things that drain your energy or protecting your peace. It’s the daily act of becoming the parent you needed, rebuilding safety, and give yourself all the love, one small act of care at a time.

Reparenting isn’t only about healing childhood wounds, it’s about giving yourself the care, protection, and stability at any age. When danger happens in adulthood, your sense of safety and trust in the world can be shaken, touching the same deep needs that parents usually help children build. Reparenting as an adult means patiently rebuilding those inner foundations yourself: creating new safety and care routines; speaking to yourself with comfort instead of blame; and slowly restoring trust that the world can be safe again. It’s showing up for yourself the way a loving parent would after their child has been frightened, gently saying, “You’re safe now. I’m here. You don’t have to face this alone.”