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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
Explode or Shut Down? The 2 Types of Repressed Rage
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In this episode, Patrick Teahan, MSW, explores the profound impact of rage as a byproduct of childhood trauma, detailing how unsafe environments force children to either weaponize or absorb intense emotional energy. He introduces the concept of inward and outward rage, moving beyond the stigma of "anger issues" to focus on the underground emotional deposits that develop when a child is erased, ignored, or exposed to volatility.
The episode begins by unpacking a complex dynamic: the four specific childhood situations that fuel adult rage. Patrick uses these roots to illustrate how survivors often struggle with a "well of childhood" that runs their present-day reactions, where symptoms like road rage or chronic exhaustion are actually valid byproducts of old injustices.
Listeners will learn:
- The Four Situations of Rage: Why adults not doing the right thing, deep injustice, volatile or passive parenting, and being "erased" create a lifelong emotional burden.
- Outward Rage (Fire at Will): The reality of being "wired for anger," characterized by a low threshold for frustration, self-righteousness, and the tendency for rage to come out sideways in adulthood.
- Inward Rage (The Superhero Absorber): Exploring why some survivors never feel anger at all, instead acting like a "black hole" that absorbs dangerous energy at the expense of their own physical and mental health.
- The Erasure Effect: What it truly means to be invisible as a child and how having your needs or feelings wiped out leads to a massive sense of adult injustice.
- Situations Over Symptoms: Why understanding your story is more vital for recovery than simply managing symptoms, as the "what happened" is the source of the "what is felt."
- Reclaiming and Releasing: How healing involves Jane-style pressure release for those with outward rage and Beth-style "reclaiming of the f-you" for those who have gone numb.
Patrick also provides a case study of two sisters to highlight how the same traumatic environment can produce polar opposite rage strategies. By understanding how these survival tactics were formed, listeners can begin to move toward a healthy middle ground where anger is a tool for advocacy rather than a source of shame or self-sabotage.
Keywords: childhood trauma, repressed rage, inward rage, outward rage, inner child work, emotional neglect, parentification, nervous system, toxic family systems, trauma recovery, justice-based anger.