Alaina on Unhealed Trauma from Josh's Cheating and Relationship Struggles

Learned Behaviors and Family Patterns

• 🎭 Alaina reflects on journaling and realizing she constantly pours into her kids, husband, and job, neglecting self-care.
• 🏠 She learned to "put on a front" and act like everything is good, a behavior modeled by her mother's marriage to her alcoholic father.
• ⚠️ This pattern of masking struggles was adopted because it was what she knew, until she reached her limit.

Impact of Past Trauma on Relationships

• 💔 Alaina's father was an alcoholic, and she never received guidance on how a man should treat her.
• 💍 When Josh cheated, she initially downplayed it, thinking "every woman goes through this," and decided to marry him anyway.
• 😔 However, she admits this is something she has never healed from, leading to resentment.

Relationship Dynamics and Resentment

• 👩‍👧‍👦 Alaina finds herself tending to her children's needs and working on weekends, which contributes to resentment in her relationship with Josh.
• 🗣️ She feels her partner doesn't always respond in the way she needs, with a friend suggesting they should just be happy and have fun.
• 💬 Alaina expresses that she and Josh don't have deep conversations about their feelings or what they are going through.

Feelings of Inadequacy and Connection

• 🔗 Alaina notices similarities between her relationship with her mom and her relationship with Josh, feeling like she's never good enough in both.
• 😔 She feels that in these relationships, her feelings don't matter, which is difficult for her.
• ❤️ The conversation touches on the need to start saying "I love you" more, with a declaration of love at the end.