How to Overcome Your Childhood: How to raise contented, interesting, and resilient children

Written by Campus London LTD (The School of Life)

Narrated by Sonya Cullingford

A guide to breaking free from the enduring, and sometimes damaging, behavioral patterns learned in childhood.

When trying to deal with our current troubles and anxieties, it can be deeply irritating to be asked to consider our childhoods. They happened so long ago; we can probably barely remember, let alone relate to, the little person we once were. But one of the most powerful explanations for why we may, as adults, be struggling, is that we were denied the opportunity to fully be ourselves in our earliest years. Perhaps we were over-disciplined and cowed, not allowed to be willful or difficult—and so learned to tell white lies and people-please. Or perhaps our caregivers were preoccupied or fragile and so we had to assume the role of parent, burying our true needs and desires deep underground.

When we thoroughly examine our upbringings, the larger implications for our adult selves are clear to see. Once we understand the roots from which our flaws stem, we can set about correcting the harmful behaviors we mistakenly believe to be innate. This book is a guide to better understanding our younger selves in order to shape who we wish to be in the future. It explores to what extent we can pin our actions in the present to our experiences in the past, and how we might then break free from the learned patterns of our childhoods.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The School of Life
• Release date: Aug 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781912891917

Campus London LTD (The School of Life)

The School of Life is a groundbreaking enterprise which offers good ideas for everyday living. Founded in 2008, The School of Life runs a diverse range of programmes and services which address questions of personal fulfilment and how to lead a better life. Drawing insights from philosophy, psychology, literature, the visual arts and sciences, The School of Life offers evening classes, weekends, conversation meals and other events that explore issues relating to big themes such as Love,Work, Play, Self, Family and Community.

Reviews for How to Overcome Your Childhood

[Justin Bos · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Lots of great messages in this book. The biggest takeaway is that trauma can be caused in the subtlest of ways but we can overcome it once we are willing to examine it.

[Caroline S · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A good introduction into exploring how your childhood affects everything in your adulthood.

[a b · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Two hours that are more impressive and impactful than most extensive books on this topic