ABSTRACT
Authoritarian wounding is an interpersonal matter. The victim is not just thinking something or feeling something: something traumatic happened to him or her at the hands of another person. It is logical to suppose that victims of authoritarian wounding will have problems relating. Therefore, helping them improve their relationships, helping them better understand family dynamics, and helping them gain basic relationship skills are worthy goals as authoritarian picture how authoritarian and their wounded clients might work together. A simple and effective way to help clients in these areas is to focus on two qualities, strength and bravery. Feeling abandoned, misunderstood, or rejected is harder on the system than climbing a mountain. Family life is nothing if not demanding. Being strong and being brave can manifest in all sorts of ways. For one client, it will be staying in a currently unacceptable relationship but staying in new safer or stronger ways; for another client, it will be leaving the relationship.
