Mara Elliston > Quotes

“The phone call would come later that evening—Daddy apologizing, explaining about work, promising to make it up to her next weekend. There would be other Saturdays, other promises, other afternoons spent at windows. But something had shifted that first day, something in the deep places where a child’s sense of safety and belonging take root.”
― Mara Elliston, Abandonment Trauma: Healing the Fear of Being Left Behind and Learning to Feel Safe Again

“The nervous system of a child experiencing abandonment goes into protective overdrive. Every interaction becomes scanned for signs of impending departure. The laugh that sounds slightly different. The moment of distraction that might mean someone is already mentally leaving. The silence that could indicate withdrawal. What researchers call hypervigilance becomes a way of life—exhausting, but seemingly necessary for survival.⁠2”
― Mara Elliston, Abandonment Trauma: Healing the Fear of Being Left Behind and Learning to Feel Safe Again