The Reparenting Check-inThe Reparenting Check-in
ACA Tuesday Zoombox
Allyson shares how ACA reparenting check-ins help her soothe intense triggers, reconnect with her body, and gently build trust with her inner children and teenager. Her story focuses on dating stress, dissociation, a harsh critical parent, and learning to become a more patient and loving inner caregiver.
15:05•14 Aug 2026
Gentle Reparenting: Allyson’s Slow and Honest ACA Check-in
Episode Overview
- Reparenting check-ins are a practical skill that can be learned and deepened through regular practice.
- Grounding in the body by noticing breath, sensations, and emotions helps interrupt dissociation and reactive patterns.
- Identifying which inner family member (child, teen, etc.) is activated makes it easier to respond with care rather than criticism.
- Consistently returning to inner parts, even without clear dialogue, gradually builds trust within the "inner family".
- Validating anger and fear, especially in the inner teenager, replaces old messages of "you’re bad" with "it’s okay to feel this".
“"The ACA solution is to become our own loving parent; reparenting is a skill that can be learned and the more we practise the check-in, the more we deepen the skill."”
Get ready to be moved by real-life accounts of what it means to grow up in chaos and slowly build a gentler inner life. In this ACA Tuesday Zoombox share, Allyson talks about using reparenting check-ins from the Loving Parent Guidebook to calm a nervous system that’s used to constant alarm – especially around relationships.
She admits that she came to the meeting during a messy season of dating, saying her "inner children were… on fire" and that a relationship felt "too fast, too much change" for the parts of her that still didn’t trust she was safe. Rather than blame her partner, she keeps bringing it back to "all my stuff all my family of origin" and the old wounds from caregivers who were meant to protect her.
The heart of the share centres on the reparenting check-in practice: grounding in the body, noticing breath and sensations, and asking which inner family member is triggered – child, teen, or another part. Allyson describes herself as "a big disassociator" and talks honestly about how scary it can be to come back into the body after a lifetime of checking out.
She loves that the tool allows space for uncertainty: "it’s okay if I don’t know" what’s happening inside, as long as she stays curious and keeps showing up. The shift in how she relates to her inner teenager is especially striking. Once treated as "the most like offensive part" whose anger was "so unlovable", that teen now gets messages like "it’s totally okay that you’re feeling this way".
With gentle humour about her "good little girl" tendencies and honest talk about imposter syndrome in recovery rooms, Allyson offers something many adult children crave: a realistic picture of slow, messy progress. If you’ve ever felt like your critical parent is still running the show, this share might give you a new way to check in with yourself – one loving breath at a time.
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.