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Our Whole Childhood with Patrick Teahan
This is "Our Whole Childhood" - hosted by Patrick Teahan - where we discuss everything childhood trauma, from the issues that we experience, to the stuff that comes up in our families, and to the healing work that we're all trying to get done. No clinical jargon—just real, personal stories of growing up with childhood trauma and the journey to healing.
Learn more at www.patrickteahan.com
Our Whole Childhood with Patrick Teahan
My Highschool Bully
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In this episode, Patrick, explores why memories of school bullies can still feel visceral years later, even after you have done a lot of healing work. Using a poll with over 2,000 participants, Patrick breaks down the different ways bullying can stick in the nervous system, from occasional intense flashbacks to lingering resentment and revenge fantasies.
Rather than treating bullying as a standalone issue, Patrick connects it to childhood trauma and family systems. He explains how bullies often target vulnerability, how being disconnected at home can amplify what happens at school, and why many survivors cannot fully process bullying until they also confront the bully at home or the caregivers who minimized it, blamed them, or failed to protect them.
A major turning point in the episode comes from Patrick’s own story: years after high school, he looks up a bully online and finds a single comment that reframes the entire relationship...
Listeners will learn:
- What the data says about bullying and adulthood
- Why bullying can feel personal when home life already attacked your worth
- How the bully at school sometimes mirrors the emotional climate at home
- How a single piece of context can shift long-held pain and meaning
- What real compassion looks like after healthy processing
Patrick also discusses recovery themes like validating your younger self, noticing “trauma detective” dynamics where bullies spot fear and disconnection, and how reclaiming your own humanity makes it easier to see humanity in others without excusing harm.
If you still think about a bully once in a while and the feelings hit hard, this episode offers a grounded way to understand why, and a path toward loosening what is still stuck.
Keywords: school bullying, childhood trauma, emotional flashbacks, resentment, revenge fantasies, family systems, emotional neglect, unsafe parents, hypervigilance, self-worth, healing, compassion