The Weekend University

Attachment & Healing Shadow Parts — Dr. Bonnie Badenoch, PhD

Nov 27, 2025
Dr. Bonnie Badenoch, a clinical psychologist and co-founder of Nurturing the Heart with the Brain in Mind, delves into fascinating insights on attachment and healing. She discusses how we stay protected until we feel safe to heal and the critical role of our inner community. Bonnie explores how our early caregiving shapes our perception of God and our relationships. Her approach, emphasizing ‘radical inclusiveness,’ reveals how all parts of ourselves, even the painful ones, can guide us toward deeper healing and understanding.
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INSIGHT

Protection Before Healing

  • Our brains hide painful memories using biology and learned protectors so we can function until healing is possible.
  • Bonnie Badenoch explains extrasynaptic GABA and protector parts keep trauma out of awareness until safety arrives.
ANECDOTE

Childhood Comforts That Protected

  • Bonnie's childhood protectors were reading deeply and eating cookies to feel warmth and safety.
  • These behaviours kept painful memories at bay and provided comfort during vulnerability.
INSIGHT

Healing Internalized Caregivers

  • Internalized caregivers include both their hurts and the pain that caused them to hurt us.
  • Bonnie Badenoch says healing those internalized figures reduces their wounding influence inside us.
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