This indispensable step-by-step guide shows readers how to release the shame, neglect, and anguish of repressed emotions from a painful childhood. Instead of dealing with trauma, many adults try to erase it by seeking to gain the approval and validation of parents who were absent, abusive, or dysfunctional. They act out and repeat this destructive behavior as adults, becoming self-defeating, pessimistic, and unable to experience joy. Adults who can't let go of their own troubled childhoods risk repeating this destructive cycle with their own children. Drawing from his own clinical and personal experiences, author James Krehbiel provides tools for untangling the past through self-reflection, recognition, grieving, and releasing of one’s losses. Then he gives readers productive tips and crucial advice for laying the foundation for a new life, relating the essential steps for leaving behind demons and building a bridge to a happy, triumphant adulthood.