> **🌱 Planted:** Tue 28 January 2025 --- > [!quote] > “There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds.” — Laurell K. Hamilton When we feel like we are not seen, heard, understood, loved or valued for the exact way we are, we become wounded. When this happens, our personal subjectivity and essential identity has been invalidated which leaves us feeling self-conscious, shameful, broken, defective, not good enough, rejected or even abandoned. When we are not loved, valued and accepted for who we are, it creates a wound so deep it is as if the very core of the self has been fundamentally pierced or shattered in some way. This wound—known as the narcissistic wound—represents a profound fracture in our sense of self, leaving us disconnected from our worth and authenticity. The experience of the narcissistic wound often has origins from childhood where our [[We all have normal emotional needs|normal developmental emotional needs]] went unmet. If we are not adequately mirrored, validated, seen, heard, loved and valued for exactly as we are in our [[✦ Early Development|early developmental]] years, we become self-conscious and often act out of defensiveness to protect a fragile self-image. As time goes on, this wound can distance us from the core of our being, obfuscating our true nature and essence. --- **➡️ Next:** [[The loss of our personal subjectivity is passed on generationally]] **⬅️ Back:** [[We all have normal emotional needs]] --- **\*️⃣️ Expand:** ️ - [[❍ Defence Mechanisms]] describes the defences that help to protect us from the pain of this wound. - [[✦ Parts Work]] describes the method in which we can directly work with our own defences, meet our unmet needs and resolve the pain inflicted from this wound. [^1]: [[The Point of Existence by A. H. Almaas]] [^2]: The Narcissistic Wound is also known as "the primal wound" or "the core wound", and probably many others.