Josie Coco - Writer & Gestalt Psychotherapy

Post Series: When Love is Missing: 7 Signs Emotional Neglect May Have Shaped You
One sign emotional neglect may have shaped you is difficulty knowing what you feel or need.
This can be confusing.
You may be capable.
Insightful.
Emotionally intelligent.
Able to understand others.
And still feel unsure of what is happening inside you in the moment.
You may know what someone else needs before you know what you need.
You may sense tension in the room before you sense your own feeling.
You may respond outward before you know what is true inwardly.
This is not a personal failure.
It may be an adaptation.
A gentle place to begin:
What am I noticing in myself right now?
Not what should I feel.
Not what do others need.
Just:
What is here?

Comment - SIGNS - and I’ll send you the link to a free reflective, downloadable pdf guide – When Love is Missing; 7 Signs Emotional Negelct May Have Shaped You

When Love is Missing: 7 Signs That Emotional Neglect May Have Shaped You

Emotional neglect can be hard to recognise.
Not because it is insignificant.
But because it is often about absence.
What did not happen often enough.
The comfort that was not offered.
The feelings that were not noticed.
The needs that were not welcomed.
The inner life that was not met with curiosity.
The support that was not available when you needed it.
The help to understand your feelings.
This free reflective guide is not a diagnosis.
It is not a checklist.
It is an invitation to notice patterns that may have formed when important emotional needs were not consistently met.
Recognition is enough for now.
Take your time.

Comment - SIGNS - and I’ll send you the pdf guide by DM - When Love is Missing: 7 Signs That Emotional Neglect May Have Shaped You.

This is such a good graphic for recovery from emotional neglect.

📬 Send this to someone who needs a little support! ❤️ Regulation isn’t a one-size-fits-all habit. It’s learning what helps you come back to yourself, little by little, in the moments you need it most. This can look like: 🧘 Body-Based Regulation: Supports your system when stress is living in the body. ❤️ Emotion-Based Regulation: Helps when emotions feel too big, too fast, or hard to process. 🧠 Mind-Based Regulation: Useful when your mind is looping, scanning, or catastrophizing. 🫂 Support-Based Regulation: Important when dysregulation shows up as isolation, people-pleasing, or relational stress. 💌 Share this with someone who needs it & Follow @healyournervoussystem for more tools and insights 📲 Rooting for you, Dr. Linnea . . . #assessment #nervoussystemregulation #regulation #anxiety #overwhelm

I love this… so clear and on point.

We are living in a profoundly disembodied culture. Much of modern life asks us to direct our attention outward. Toward our screens, our responsibilities, our productivity, and the constant stream of information competing for our attention. At the same time, many people are experiencing chronic stress, loneliness, emotional overwhelm, and an increasing sense of disconnection - from themselves, from one another, and from the natural world. From a trauma-informed perspective, this isn’t simply a cultural phenomenon. For many, it reflects adaptive patterns that developed in response to overwhelming experiences. When the nervous system organizes around survival, disconnecting from the body often becomes a way of coping. The conditions of modern life often reinforce these same adaptations. Somatic therapy offers a different approach. Rather than asking us to think our way through our experiences, it invites us to gently rebuild our relationship with the body - developing greater awareness of sensation, emotion, and the nervous system, one moment at a time. Because the body is not simply where we carry our experiences. It is also where we deeply reconnect with ourselves. We are now welcoming clients worldwide for individual online sessions. Grounded in somatic psychology and trauma-informed care, these sessions support emotional health, nervous system restoration and embodied wellbeing. Schedule a consultation at the link in Bio 🤍 #somatictherapy #onlinetherapy #onlinetherapist #emotionalhealth #traumarecovery

I’m writing about emotional neglect in 3 PARTS

I’ll be posting on topic regularly on my timeline – check my HIGHLIGHTS for relevant stories.

PART 1: Something may have been missing, and your adaptations make sense.

PART 2: Here is how early absence may organise itself in adult relationships.

PART 3: Healing is not about becoming perfect. It is about returning, practising, repairing, and forming a kinder relationship with yourself.

PART 3 will begin posting once I think I’ve answered enough questions in Part 2.

Some questions that I’ll answer in PART 3 are these…

What is inner work?
Can we really heal ourselves?
Why is self-love so hard?
I’m not good at meditation
What does healing look like in ordinary life?
How do I begin again when I fall back into old patterns?