Pulling The Thread with Elise Loehnen
Oct 8, 2026 · 1 hr 4 min · 19 segments
In her private therapy practice, renowned psychoanalyst Galit Atlas, PhD, has identified six archetypes that shape our intimate relationships as adults. She says that every adult carries one of these…
Elise LoehnenHostGalit AtlasGuest
Let's start with the guilty child since I was like, "This is me," even though it comes later in the book.
But oh, this line, "For the child, guilt then becomes preferable to the distress of reality or of depending on insufficient or helpless caregivers.
We prefer to see ourselves as responsible for bad things, keeping the world and the people around us as good." Ooh.
I, yeah, the guilty child experience exceeds actual wrongdoing and is dominated by fear of retaliation and anxiety about punishment.
And it's interesting 'cause I don't necessarily even trace this to my childhood.
But when I was reading about sort of the symptoms of the guilty child, I love the explainers at the front of every chapter explaining the archetype.
But I was like, "Oh, my God, this is me." I, every time someone calls me, I'm like, "Am I in trouble?" I feel anxiety and guilt about my thoughts, right? That somehow people are gonna know that I'm like, "Oh, that person's annoying," or, "Uh, stop." It's wild that somehow-
... 'cause I'm thinking about your book, and I'm thinking about the Sims, and I'm thinking about being big and being not polite, right? So let me, maybe I'll start with what the guilty child is.
Let's start with the guilty child since I was like, "This is me," even though it comes later in the book.
But oh, this line, "For the child, guilt then becomes preferable to the distress of reality or of depending on insufficient or helpless caregivers.
We prefer to see ourselves as responsible for bad things, keeping the world and the people around us as good." Ooh.
I, yeah, the guilty child experience exceeds actual wrongdoing and is dominated by fear of retaliation and anxiety about punishment.
And it's interesting 'cause I don't necessarily even trace this to my childhood.
But when I was reading about sort of the symptoms of the guilty child, I love the explainers at the front of every chapter explaining the archetype.
But I was like, "Oh, my God, this is me." I, every time someone calls me, I'm like, "Am I in trouble?" I feel anxiety and guilt about my thoughts, right? That somehow people are gonna know that I'm like, "Oh, that person's annoying," or, "Uh, stop." It's wild that somehow-
... 'cause I'm thinking about your book, and I'm thinking about the Sims, and I'm thinking about being big and being not polite, right? So let me, maybe I'll start with what the guilty child is.
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