Hello, I'm a mum of a child who has experienced trauma at a daycare as a baby. Luckily I am a very astute parent and I knew straight away and withdrew. A few years later he was traumatised again, at school and I'm now home educating. I've got no help. Trauma informed classes seem to be for professionals coming into contact with children but not for mums trying to help their own children and protect them from so called professionals. I've watched some of your videos tonight and I really hope you can help. I totally agree with your points on eary childhood trauma and I'm determined to support my son but I can see the 'residual' damage these horrible abusers have put on him, Inc a lack of healthy appetite (need to control?) making him slimmer than he would normally be. I have important questions about my sons development and what a horrible woman did to him when he was 18months old and no one to ask! Can you help?!

Hi Daniel, I was a victim of child sexual, physical and emotional abuse, mostly by my mother, i.e. mother on daughter incest - violent rapes. My mother wasn't a victim of child sexual abuse herself, instead she started sexually assaulting younger children when she was 9 if not younger. She was a grandiose narcissist and according to several of my doctors who have met her, more of a psychopath than a sociopath. She was also very religious (she nearly became a nun) and 'respectable'. Being born into the upper class (French aristocrats) helped, even though her family were not that wealthy. The physical abuse started before I was born (attempts at inducing a miscarriage), she took drugs (benzos, opiates, tricyclic antidepressants - the level of opiates she takes is just as bad as if she was injecting heroin) throughout the time she was pregnant with me and as a result I was born by C section 3 weeks early and spent the first 2 weeks in an incubator, being weaned off the drugs, while she was demanding more opiates for heself and saying that I should be put down. When she saw me for the first time, she said 'It looks like a rat!' (I had lanugo) and turned towards the wall. I went home with her after 2 weeks, then the social services (who had been alerted by the hospital) found out that I wasn't being fed, my nappy wasn't being changed, and I'd lost weight since my release from hospital, so they forced my father to hire a nurse (they coulndn't get my mother to sign adoption papers to give me away and were too cash strapped to take her to court to put me into foster care), the nanny found me unconscious in my cot when she arrived and called an ambulance, I had brain trauma (probably from shaken baby syndrome) and had to have surgery to relieve the pressure on my brain. I then went back 'home' but the nanny protected me against my mother until I was 3... when, again, the nanny, the neighbours, the kindergarten teachers and the other kids' parents had to contact the social services to force my mother to let me see a doctor (I had lost the sight in one eye. Thankfully I only needed glasses). My mother then moved to a differnet part of France, I lost my nanny, and the sexual abuse started a couple of weeks later. I actually distinctly remember the first time she raped me. My mother also liked suffocating and strangling me, stabbing me, mostly with sewing needles, burning me etc. She gleefully told me numerous times how she tried to suffocate me when I was an infant. I am now in my late 40s, went no contact with my mother when I was 25, and moved to a differnet country in my 30s. My father was non existent (just a sperm donor) and the rest of the family were no help, and I've never dated, I am quite a loner. I have found Pete Wlaker's book extremely helpful, as well as Dr Judith Hermann's book, and Andrea Dworkin's books and talks (I attract pimps and narcissists and have been offered jobs in the prostitution/porn industry throughout my life, though mostly when I was in my 20s). Just now, in the UK, a nurse, Lucy Letby, has been convicted of torturing and killing babies on the nenoatal unit where she worked. Her victims were premature babies or twins, 2 of them were triplets (the third triplet survived because his parents demanded that he be transferred to amother hospital). Several of her victims, who survived, suffered permanent brain damage and will never be able to live a normal life, at least one of them requries 24/7 care,she is tetraplegic and has cerebral palsy. Some of the babies she targeted were only 1 or 2 days old, some of them had been on the unit for a while, and were about to go home. The nurse enjoyed trying to 'save' the babies after they had collapsed, a fairly typical case of Munchhausen by proxy (which my mother also had. She diagnosed me with brain tumour, leukaemia, brain tumour and rapidly progressing MS when I was only 8, etc.) The case has made me very jittery and has caused flashbacks. I could have fallen victim to someone like Lucy during any of my stays in hospital during the first 3 years of my life, and of course, my mother was very much like her: superficially charming, butter melts in her mouth, good Christian etc. If you could make a video around the subject, it would help me. I have already listened to Dr Todd Grande's, which helped a little. I guess that one of the ways I am going to manage this grief, fear and anger is by militating for an independent ombudsman/regulator to be creasted, so that patients and whistleblowers have someone to take their concerns to. Sorry for the long post and best wishes!

I listened to your story about trauma and grief or grieving. For me when I listen to your talk of self actualization .. it actually seems that the crying is a from of compassion for the wounded part. A form of nurturing of acknowledging the inner you. For me that is different grieving. Grieving for me is an expression of loss … for someone who is not there as in a death. In which the grief contracts the heart not allowing the person the experience expansiveness of their energetic which would allow them to experience where the soul is rather than where they are not. So perhaps the dissociation of your true self which was healed through crying was a way to open your wounded contracted heart with with compassion. Which represents an evolution and associated expansiveness in the recognition of realization your true nature of .

Hello Daniel, What is your opinion on people's right to self determination when it comes to physical self injury? Sometimes I think that I should be allowed to cut myself, that it isn't the absolute worst coping mechanism in my arsenal (though I acknowledge that it is also not the best). I give myself stick-and-poke tattoos to self-soothe sometimes as an alternative, and I see no functional difference in this behavior and cutting... except that when others see the results of my actions they do not feel the same discomfort/disgust/fear as when they look at a large ugly scar. But it makes my loved ones extremely upset and makes them want me institutionalized. I am wondering how I can talk to them about this, and if maybe my perspective is flawed.

I visited my family home in Athens a couple of weeks ago where my elderly father and mother still live. My mum has declined so much that she relies 100% on carers. I do not think she even recognised me this time, which may look (and is) sad, but I finally feel safe that she cannot harm me anymore, despite being still "alive". My dad, on the other hand, who is also very old, is still fully functioning (working and taking care of mum). He was always the "good" one, but lately I realised that he has never protected us from her destructive influence. When I attempted to open a conversation about these issues he denied it and that frustrated me so much that I left the house and started wondering in the nearby hill (the house is in a remote suburb of Athens) feeling completely alone in my journey towards Truth. I started crying, because I knew that I could not speak about this to anyone and then I realised that I have at least one ally in this. You. If our value in this life is measured by the number of hearts we have touched, you certainly are a truly rich person. And if you ever come to London for any reason, you could stay with us if you want (myself and my daughter). This is the least I could do. I wish I could do more to Thank you for what you have given me the last months that I discovered your work. From all the people in the world, you feel more "family" to me than any of my family members.

Hey you might never see this, but I love your videos. I want to be a psychiatrist (not the kind that just prescribes drugs and forces diagnoses down people's throat) and I just wanted to know if you knew how to do this!

Daniel -- The profession lost a mensch when you left. Your videos have helped me so much. Could you tackle psychedelics? There's a lot of hype. I would trust your take!

Congrats on 100,000 subs , you deserve , we deserve, peace bro

Hi Daniel, I am so glad that I’ve found you on youtube! The first video that I watched was about you quitting your job as a therapist, to be honest it scared me a little bit because I want to become a psychotherapist myself. I’m writhing this to thank you for just being on this planet:) You are really inspiring me to be a kind person. When I’m watching your videos I see your love for people and it brings me so much joy. Thank you!

Dear Daniel, Discovered your videos today, and so appreciate you sharing your experiences and understandings. The mind is complex and not a source of peace. Fortunately, there is something MORE to us. WITHIN us. And it is GOOD and BEAUTIFUL and FULFILLING. It is our true SELF. There is a song - I am not the body Nor the mind I am not of this earth I am something divine That ‘I’ is what we seek in various ways. It is within us. To be EXPERIENCED. To KNOW. I am not a psychologist. Nor a truster in spirituality. My good wishes to You, Mary

I am only now beginning to watch your videos and delve into your work. I can tell right off the bat that this is what I have been seeking for a very long time. I have always thought I am a terrible person for being an only child and wanting distance between myself and my parents.....but I can see I am not a bad person. I will be writing more as I dig further into your work. It's not even a coincidence that I'm studying for my master's in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Thank you for your candor and courage!!

Having suffered several traumas, received multiple diagnosis and taken meds that never help, all i can say is how refreshing it is to see a (former) therapist be so honest and touch upon rarely discussed topics like you do! I never had a therapist i really connected with and it made me wish that , somehow, you were still working in the field. I have had very expensive therapists and they were even worse than cheaper ones. Now i cant afford much, and the fact that you wouls accept people who couldnt pay much, touched me really deep. sending love from Brasil 🌻

Thank you Daniel for your youtube work and sharing your journey. Just bought Breaking From Your Parents as that is the most important issue that I am dealing with right now (early 30's). It is incredibly tough too because they are ill. Sometimes, I imagine that I should just wait a few more years and hopefully be at peace. I guess we will see if my plans change after viewing and watching your video on it. I wish the best for you and other commenters.

Thank you for everything that you do.

I love you, so much. 🙂