Emotional neglect is one of the most common origins of adult disconnection, and it is also one of the hardest to recognize because it is defined by what did not happen rather than by what did. A child who was physically cared for but emotionally ignored, whose feelings were never acknowledged, whose internal life was treated as unimportant or invisible, learns to treat their own inner experience the same way. They disconnect from it because no one ever connected with it. In adulthood, this disconnection from the self becomes a disconnection from others, because a person who is not in contact with their own emotional life cannot share it with anyone else.
Dr. David Steinbok works with patients from the Boynton Beach, Florida area who are dealing with the effects of emotional neglect, whether or not they have identified their early experience as neglect. A therapist for feeling disconnected from everyone helps the patient reconnect with the internal experience that was shut down early in life, which is the prerequisite for reconnecting with others.
