Parents Are Indeed Capable Of Routinely Torturing

He Has Given Ample Evidence Of Qualities Hardly Any Other Living Statesman Has Demonstrated To The Same Degree: The Courage To Look Facts In The Face And To Seek Flexible Solutions, Respect For Others, Give-and-take In Dialog Situations, Absence Of Hypocrisy, A Complete Absence Of Grandeur In The Conduct Of His Personal Life. He Has Never Been Driven By Blind Self-assertion To Make Absurd Decisions.

Experience Has Taught Us That We Have Only One Enduring Weapon In Our Struggle Against Mental Illness: The Emotional Discovery And Emotional Acceptance Of The Truth In The Individual And Unique History Of Our Childhood.

For Some Years Now, There Has Been Proof That The Devastating Effects Of The Traumatization Of Children Take Their Inevitable Tollon Society--a Fact That We Are Still Forbidden To Recognize. This Knowledge Concerns Every Single One Of Us, And--if Disseminated Widely Enough--should Lead To Fundamental Changes In Society; Above All, To A Halt In The Blind Escalation Of Violence.

The Knowledge That You Were Beaten And That This, As Your Parents Tell You, Was For Your Own Good May Well Be Retained (although Not Always), But The Suffering Caused By The Way You Were Mistreated Will Remain Unconscious And Will Later Prevent You From Empathizing With Others. This Is Why Battered Children Grow Up To Be Mothers And Fathers Who Beat Their Offspring

Without Realizing That The Past Is Constantly Determining Their Present Actions, They Avoid Learning Anything About Their History. They Continue To Live In Their Repressed Childhood Situation, Ignoring The Fact That Is No Longer Exists, Continuing To Fear And Avoid Dangers That, Although Once Real, Have Not Been Real For A Long Time.