Jeannie's Brave Childhood : Behavior and Healing Through the Lens of Attachment and Trauma

'With creativity and honesty, Janyne McConnaughey goes deep, using a narrative approach to explore pain, trauma, and healing...'(Thomas Jay Oord) Interweaving her own dissociative-personality story, her expertise in child development, and beloved literary characters, Dr. McConnaughey demonstrates how she worked to re-frame the unhealthy messages she internalized as a child. This healing process cleared a path to behavioral change, forgiveness, growing faith, and the rediscovery of simple joys. The unfolding relationship between the author and her child self, Jeannie, illustrates the dedication, trials, and triumphs inherent in developing an attachment relationship that is necessary for full healing. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction /9 PART I: MY CHILD SELVES GO TO THERAPY /13 1. Jeannie and God Make a Plan /15 2. Jumping Down a Rabbit Hole /19 3. Gathering in the Kitchen /26 4. Table Conversations /35 5. After-Dinner Therapy /46 6. Campfire Reflections /52 PART II: WHAT MY CHILD SELVES LEARNED /60 7. Attachment and the 'Mother' /62 8. Trauma Needs a 'Mother' /70 9. When Survival Looks Like Resilience /80 10. The Life Every Child Deserves /91 11. A Tangle of Feelings and Emotions /103 12. Of Lies and Forgetting /114 13. The Pervasiveness of Shame /123 14. How Secrets Silence Children /133 15. Becoming My Own 'Mother' /139 PART III: HOW MY CHILD SELVES HEALED /145 16. Healing and Cookies in the Kitchen /147 17. Healing through Live Storytelling /155 18. Healing through Literature /162 19. Healing through Play /173 20. Healing by Reframing /183 21. Healing to Forgive /193 22. Epilogue: A BRAVE Tribute /207 Addendum I: Synopsis of BRAVE /211 Addendum II: Foreword to BRAVE /213 Addendum III: ACE Study /215 Addendum IV: Adoption/Foster Care /216 Addendum V: The Story of the Boxes /219