Emotional abuse can be as severe as physical and sexual abuse and any form can lead to severe disabilities later in life. This includes belittling, denigrating, terrorizing, exploiting, emotional unresponsiveness, or corrupting a child in a way that jeopardizes safety and often leads to making the child feel worthless, unloved, or unwanted.
This type of mistreatment typically occurs in homes where there are multiple stresses, family conflict, mental health issues, physical violence, sexual abuse, depression, or substance abuse.
Kids don't have the emotional tools they need so they tend to repress what they cannot deal with. But, until they are resolved they can lead to a wide range of physical and emotional symptoms. I often rely on psychotherapy or somatic psychotherapy to help these abused children deal with what has happened to them and become authentic, happy people.
