How to Live Free from Family Guilt

Do you feel guilty when you can’t be there to attend to your child’s needs? Are you guilt-ridden about hurting your parents or siblings in the past-even after you have done your best to make amends? When you cannot visit your elderly parents as often as you want, do you feel overly burdened with guilt?

If you grew up in a family gripped with guilt, it may constantly trouble you, even outside your home. If you want to be happy and pursue your dreams, overcoming excessive guilt is important. How can you live a life free from unnecessary guilt?

Guilt, Love, and Family

False guilt is one of the worst feelings you can live with for the rest of your life. It can deter you from being positive, successful, and happy. What many people don’t realize is that guilt can be significantly strengthened by family interactions and relationships. Bound by love, families are vulnerable to it.

Out of their great love, parents would do anything to ensure that their children get what they deserve, and children push themselves to the limit to please their parents. When people use guilt to get what they want from family members, they are not usually aware that they are using it or that they are nurturing false guilt, which can eventually make their loved one live in misery- for no reason.

Growing Guilt through the Years

Many parents find themselves using guilt as a parenting tool, unaware that guilt can breed negative emotions and an unfulfilled life in the long run. What they see is that it can bring about positive behaviors, such as responsibility and empathy, and immediate results that are perceived to be positive.

Most young children want to please their parents, and guilt can make them behave and be “good children” as their parents define it. Thus, even if no punishment is used to discipline them, children are molded to do things because of guilt.

Unfortunately, guilt may not stop growing once it becomes part of the family culture. It can go on until the children become adults and parents themselves—and the cycle continues.

Freeing Yourself from False Guilt

If you carry false guilt that makes you feel unworthy and indecisive, it can deter you from pursuing your dreams and becoming the accomplished person you want to be. It may also make you a parent who unconsciously uses guilt as a parenting tool to raise another guilty child.

It is not too late for you or your family. You can sever the cycle of family guilt right here, right now, by calling Carolina Counseling Services – Fuquay-Varina, NC. CCS contracts independent therapists—one of them can work with you to resolve your feeling of false guilt.

We can Help! Call NOW!

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