Rachel Willyung LCSW ACSW

11/04/2025

Before a child can manage their emotions, they first need to notice them.
That begins with interoception — the hidden sense that helps the brain read the body’s signals.

A racing heart, a heavy chest, butterflies, a tight tummy — these are the body’s early messages.
When a child can’t interpret them, emotions can appear “sudden” or “out of nowhere.”
They’re not ignoring how they feel — their brain simply isn’t getting a clear signal yet.

Understanding interoception helps us respond with patience, not punishment — and teach children how to recognise what their body is trying to say.

Explore Managing Big Feelings: The Toolkit for Parents & Educators — practical guidance to help children build awareness, understanding, and self-regulation. Link in comments below ⬇️ or via Linktree Shop in Bio.

11/01/2025

Trust the path—you were chosen for it. 🌟

11/01/2025

Power doesn’t just dominate, it rewrites. It decides whose story matters, whose suffering counts, who deserves to be remembered. And so we end up with a world where the oppressed are written out of their own narratives, where their voices are drowned out by those who harmed them. The lion’s story will always sound heroic until we listen to the ones who survived the hunt. ꩜♥︎ Ella

11/01/2025

11/01/2025

It’s strange how healing doesn’t announce itself. There’s no grand moment, no sudden burst of light that tells you this is it, you’ve made it through.
Instead, it comes quietly—so quietly that you almost miss it. One morning, you wake up and realize that the ache you used to carry everywhere has softened. The thoughts that once consumed you now pass like clouds instead of storms. The same memories that used to burn don’t sting the same way anymore. Healing doesn’t shout; it simply arrives, like sunlight slipping into a room you didn’t know had windows.

You start to laugh again—genuinely, without forcing it. You find yourself breathing a little deeper, moving a little lighter, trusting a little more. And it’s only then, in that stillness, that you realize how far you’ve come without even noticing the steps. The pain didn’t disappear overnight; it simply made space for something gentler. Healing is not a victory march—it’s a quiet homecoming to yourself.

— Balt