perceptions3key:

“As children, internalizers [of emotional neglect] tend to take on the role-self of the rescuer, feeling a responsibility to help others even to the point of self-neglect. Their healing fantasy always involves the idea ‘It’s up to me to fix this.’ What they can’t see is that they’ve taken on a job nobody has ever pulled off: changing people who aren’t seeking to change themselves.”

— Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents by Lindsay C. Gibson, PsyD