This past week my husband and I introduced our 5-year-old to Inside Out, and then took her to the theater to see Inside Out 2.

I saw the original back in 2015 when I was an associate therapist, and I liked it.

But now, 9 years later, I’m a more seasoned therapist and a (nearly) 6-year parenting veteran.

Because of my background as a therapist, a mother, and someone from a childhood trauma history, I have many thoughts, feelings, and insights about these movies.

So today, I revisit the original Inside Out from the perspective of relational trauma therapist and mother. Then, in my next post, I'll share insights on the sequel.

As someone with a childhood trauma history and as a licensed trauma therapist, I watched the beginning of Inside Out, and felt disconnected from the character Joy, one of the five emotions that control Riley. Joy doesn’t at all feel like the dominant character sitting around my emotional control panel. Not now and not when I was a kid. I think many of us from relational trauma backgrounds might relate to that experience because our early years were likely colored by overwhelm, fear, confusion, and insecure attachments. Research shows that chronic stress (particularly posttraumatic stress disorder) can lead to restricted positive affect access (a.k.a., we have challenges feeling happy emotions, like Joy). If you come from a relational trauma history and Joy felt alien to you, too, know that this is normal. In our later trauma recovery work, finding out what brings us joy is a healing task many of us face.

What felt more accurate to me was imagining Joy having a minor, supporting role, and instead the characters of Anger, Fear, and Sadness at the helm of my emotional control panel. This feeling is........

© Psychology Today