Episode 219

full
Published on:

29th May 2025

219. Re-parenting and self care

Re-parenting and self-care... two approaches to personal healing that share similarities but serve distinct purposes. Listen today and find out more.

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Transcript
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Hello darling heart and welcome to this episode of the drink less live better podcast.

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This is the podcast that helps you to see that drinking less doesn't need to be stressful, lonely, or boring.

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I'm your host, Sarah Williamson, and I decided to have a year alcohol free as a little life experiment and haven't looked back.

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I'm here to support you with your alcohol free or drink less adventures.

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You can follow me on Instagram at drink less live better or find resources on my site drinklesslivebetter.com. I hope you enjoy this episode. Let's get straight to it. Reparenting and self care.

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Today we're going to explore the powerful concepts of reparenting and self care, two approaches to personal healing that share similarities but serve distinct purposes.

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We've all heard about self care, those essential practices that keep us functioning and thriving, but reparenting?

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That's a term that might be new to some of you.

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Let's start by understanding what these concepts mean and how they differ.

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Self care is the practice of taking deliberate actions to maintain your physical, emotional, and mental health.

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It's about recognizing your needs and taking steps to meet them.

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This could be as simple as ensuring you get enough sleep, eat nutritious meals, or take breaks when you're feeling overwhelmed.

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It's the everyday maintenance work that keeps your life running smoothly.

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Reparenting, on the other hand, goes deeper.

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It's the process of healing yourself by giving yourself the care, guidance, and nurturing that you may not have received during childhood.

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It's about identifying and addressing the emotional wounds or gaps in your development.

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While these concepts serve different purposes, they do share important similarities.

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Both are forms of self nurturing, both require self awareness and intentionality, and both aim to improve your overall well-being,

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but there's a fundamental difference in their approach.

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Self care tends to focus on meeting your present or current needs.

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It's about maintaining balance in your life right now.

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Reparenting, however, looks backwards to help you move forward.

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It addresses the root causes of your patterns and behaviors by looking to the past.

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Think of it this way: self care might be taking a mental health day when you're feeling burned out, reparenting would involve

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exploring why you consistently push yourself to the point of burnout in the first place, perhaps because you internalised

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messages about your worth being tied to your productivity. Here's a personal example.

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For years, I practiced what I thought was excellent self care.

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I'd schedule massages when I felt tense, take holidays when I was knackered and treat myself to nice dinners when I felt low,

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but I kept finding myself in the same cycles of stress and emotional depletion.

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It wasn't until I thought about reparenting that I understood why.

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Growing up, my achievements were celebrated, but my emotional needs were sometimes dismissed. Stop crying. Don't be so sensitive. Just get over it.

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These were common responses in my childhood.

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Through reparenting, I learned to validate my emotions.

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When faced with difficulty, instead of pushing through at all costs, as I was taught, I began to ask myself, what do I need right now?

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And it's okay to feel this way. I became the nurturing parent myself. Why is reparenting so important?

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It's because it addresses the foundation upon which your self care practices stand.

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Without it, self care can become merely symptomatic treatment, like continuously treating it treating a fever without addressing the underlying infection. Reparenting can help you.

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First, identify and change beliefs formed in childhood.

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Those inner voices saying, you're not good enough or you must be perfect to be loved, can be formed through conscious reparenting. Second, establish some healthier boundaries.

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Many of us struggle with setting boundaries because we're taught how or our boundaries weren't respected as children.

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Reparenting teaches you to honor your limits.

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Third, develop some emotional intelligence by recognizing and validating your emotions, something many of us weren't taught to do.

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You build resilience and improve your relationship with yourself and with others.

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The beauty is that reparenting and self care work best together.

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As you heal through reparenting, your self care becomes more effective because you're addressing both symptoms and causes.

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For instance, if you struggle with perfectionism, self care might include taking breaks and setting realistic expectations,

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but reparenting would involve exploring where that perfectionism originated from and actively challenging those beliefs by

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giving yourself the compassion and acceptance you might have needed as a child.

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Can you reflect on your own relationship with self care and consider how reparenting might complement your wellness journey?

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It's never too late to give yourself the love, understanding, and guidance you deserved all along. Thank you for listening in today. Come back again next week.

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Check out the show notes for a link to a hidden podcast episode that will help you with your 5PM cravings and details about

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my one to one life coaching and sober coaching programs, and, PS, I believe in you.

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About the Podcast

Drink Less; Live Better
Drinking Less isn't stressful, lonely or boring - let me show you the ways to relax, connect and have fun without alcohol in your life
THIS is the magic place where doubt, hope and action meet!

Let's find JOY and COLOUR on the other side of alcohol!

We don't have to hit rock bottom, we're allowed to want something different and we CAN choose to improve our lives from this point onwards. ​

Sarah was 40 and reconsidering her relationship with alcohol. ​ ​

She was tired and overwhelmed; she'd got a lot on her mind and a glass of wine or a G and T at the end of the day seemed like a treat or escape but... deep down she knew she wasn't doing herself any favours with this habit. ​ ​

Are you thinking about drinking less? ​ Sarah brings you tips, advice, motivation and believes that the changes we bring into our lives when we choose to be alcohol free are worth celebrating and shouting about (she also believes in YOU)!​

Sarah Williamson retired from drinking alcohol in 2019 and now uses her extensive coaching and mentoring experience to help and support others to do the same!

www.drinklesslivebetter.com
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About your host

Profile picture for Sarah Williamson

Sarah Williamson

I work in the magic space where doubt, hope and action meet.

Let's find JOY and COLOUR on the other side of alcohol!

We don't have to hit rock bottom, we're allowed to want something different and we CAN choose to improve our lives from this point onwards.