#362: Heal Your Wounds & Reclaim Your Life Through Shadow Work w/ Violet Benson

Coping Mechanisms

Violet Benson shares her journey of developing coping mechanisms during childhood, which have both helped and hindered her in adulthood. She describes how her imagination served as an escape from reality, allowing her to create a new persona, Violet Benson, which eventually led to the creation of her successful meme account, Daddy Issues 1. However, she also developed a freeze response to bullying, which later manifested in her adult relationships, causing misunderstandings and conflicts 2.

I was developing a coping mechanism where when things don't feel safe, I just exit my body. I'm not exactly. I disassociate. I'm not in my body and I can't even speak so that I'm frozen.

--- Violet Benson

This duality of coping mechanisms highlights the complexity of dealing with childhood trauma and its long-lasting effects.

   

Childhood Trauma

Childhood trauma can profoundly shape adult emotional and behavioral patterns, as Violet explains through her experiences. She recounts moments of emotional freezing during traumatic events, such as a car accident, where she was unable to speak due to shock 3. This response, rooted in her childhood, often left her feeling ashamed and weak, questioning her strength and reactions 4.

Everything, who we are as adults, we are formed as. From. As children.

--- Violet Benson

Mark Groves and Violet discuss how these patterns can lead to a disconnection from emotions, emphasizing the importance of understanding and processing these feelings to heal and grow.