A client spent decades believing they were fundamentally broken because their parents labeled them "husky" in a small community. The word stuck, shaping their self-esteem and choices, even as they tried to change. Parents meant well but reinforced the shame by worrying what others would think.
But one of, one of my clients struggles, body image has always just been a challenge for them. Um, and over time, like just through our conversations, we arrived at their, their inner message was like, I am bad because I'm husky. Mm-hmm. That word husky was very, very poignant for them. And they could go back to exactly the first time that they heard it, who it was from, uh, you know, why, why that person was saying it at that time. Just kind of running with that example, you know, that came from parents, but it also was from a small community. Parents were very worried about public perception, and so they didn't want their child to not be accepted. So they were trying to do something good to help them make a positive change, but then it just didn't land. It didn't work. But then that word husky stuck around their entire life, and then the decisions that they were making were all based out of that belief of, I'm husky, I'm bad, I'm broken, I'm wrong.
