ABSTRACT
Relationships are the center of the Healing the Self model. The model is based on the fact that children develop their self-esteem through strong relationships with caring adults. The first relational ingredient of the Healing the Self model, idealization, is vitally important to children because they must look up to the adult’s capacity to keep them both physically and emotionally safe. Empathy, the second relational ingredient in the model, is required to understand someone else’s perspective or, as they say, “walk in their shoes,” and is fundamental to a child’s healthy development. The third relational ingredient, belonging, is a basic human need that children must feel from infancy in order to fully develop. Although Healing the Self is a model of development that greatly prioritizes the self, it’s just one of many approaches that can help children mature.
