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Childhood trauma doesn’t disappear; research shows it leaves lasting neurological and psychological imprints.

Healing isn't erasure—it's integration.

Acknowledging the past can be an act of self-compassion, not an excuse.

I was at a dinner party recently, doing what I do in social situations—making people laugh while quietly wondering if I’d said something strange 20 minutes earlier. If so, everyone else had likely already forgotten it. Not me. In the middle of that spiral, a thought landed: Gregg, you’re doing just fine. You weren’t raised in a way that makes social situations easy.

That's not an excuse or complaint. It's a fact. I grew up in a home where abuse was the norm and abandonment wasn’t a fear—it was something that actually happened. Even truth wasn’t stable. As I wrote in Weightless, food became my refuge—the one thing that didn't leave, didn't hit, didn't lie, didn't disappear. I eventually weighed over 450 pounds. I've done the work, built a life I genuinely love, and found my footing. But the past isn't gone—and I've made peace with the idea that it probably never will be.

The Myth of "Getting Over It"

We're drawn to clean healing narratives—the before-and-after, the triumphant conclusion, the sense that pain can be neatly........

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