What is it we truly fear when we hesitate to turn inward?

Is it the discomfort of facing old wounds? The weight of emotions we have buried so deep that they seem to belong to someone else? Or is it something even more terrifying - the realisation that we are far more complex, far more vast, than the small self we have built our lives around?

In SOULSPEAK, we do not see "the shadow" as something dark, broken, or inherently negative. We see it as the unknown, the unspoken, the part of the self that has simply remained outside the light of awareness. It is not an enemy to be defeated, nor a wound to be healed - it is an aspect of self waiting to be reclaimed, understood, and fully integrated into our being.

The journey of shadow work is not about removing parts of ourselves. It is about returning to them.

Children are often far more sensitive to emotional undercurrents than we realise. Even when they don’t understand the words or specifics, they can feel tension, sadness, or frustration radiating from a parent who carries unhealed trauma. This emotional weight can shape how they see themselves and the world around them. A parent may not say a word about their inner struggles, yet a child will still sense something is off, sometimes blaming themselves without really knowing why.

Unresolved trauma can linger in subtle ways. It might show up as moments of withdrawal, flashes of anger, or a persistent sense of sorrow that never quite lifts. Even if parents want to shield their children from these feelings, it can be difficult to keep them hidden. Children naturally pick up on tone of voice, body language, and the general mood at home. It’s not that parents mean to pass on their pain; it’s more that deep-seated issues tend to resurface, colouring day-to-day interactions and leaving children to guess at what’s really going on.