What happens when a child becomes the parent?
At just 22 years old, Rhiannon has survived more than most people experience in a lifetime. Growing up with parents battling addiction, she learned to protect the very people who were supposed to protect her. After entering foster care as a teenager, losing her father to suicide, and navigating the grief of an estranged relationship with her mother, she found herself asking a heartbreaking question:
Who am I when I was never allowed to just be a child?
In this deeply honest conversation, we explore how childhood trauma doesn't end when childhood does. It follows survivors into adulthood through people-pleasing, hypervigilance, difficulty trusting others, and the overwhelming feeling of being responsible for everyone else's happiness.
Whether you grew up with addicted parents, experienced emotional neglect, or simply felt like you had to grow up too soon, this episode is a reminder that your survival isn't your identity—and healing is possible.
In this episode we discuss:
- Growing up with addicted parents
- Childhood trauma and emotional neglect
- Parentification and becoming the caregiver
- Losing a parent to suicide
- The lifelong impact of childhood abuse
- Child Protective Services (CPS) and child advocacy
- Trauma responses in adulthood
- People-pleasing and conflict avoidance
- Healing after childhood trauma
- Why survivors often become caretakers
If this conversation resonates with you, please consider subscribing, sharing this episode with someone who needs it, and leaving a review. Every share helps another survivor feel a little less alone.
Resources
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence or coercive control, support is available.
• The Refuge Utah
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide or experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988
