Beyond Healing: Moving Forward as a Family
By Meg Sajnaga
For the parent healing their own wounds while raising the next generation.
Parenting is a journey filled with immense love, but for those who have experienced trauma, it can also bring unexpected triggers, overwhelming emotions, and a deep fear of repeating the past. The unseen backpack of your history can feel heavy, influencing your reactions, shaping your relationships, and making it hard to create the safe, connected home you long for.
You are not broken. You are not failing. And you don’t have to walk this path alone.
In Beyond Healing: Moving Forward as a Family, author Meg Sajnaga, founder of MindfulFaamly, offers a heartfelt and practical roadmap for parents ready to face their past and build a future rooted in healing. With a unique blend of relatable personal stories, accessible scientific insights (including neuroplasticity and epigenetics), and actionable exercises, this book empowers you to find peace, deepen connection, and create a brighter future with those you love.
What Makes This Book Different
Unlike resources that focus solely on either trauma recovery or parenting techniques, Beyond Healing specifically addresses the complex and often overwhelming intersection of healing your own trauma while actively parenting. It provides a unique blend of:
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Authentic Personal Experience: Drawing on the author’s own journey to offer genuine relatability and hope.
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Accessible Science: Explaining the “why” behind trauma’s impact and healing’s potential in understandable terms (like neuroplasticity and epigenetics).
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Practical, Actionable Tools: Providing concrete exercises, frameworks, and scripts you can use immediately in your daily life.
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Compassionate Approach: Offering a non-judgmental, validating, and hopeful perspective throughout the healing process.
This book is designed to be a compassionate companion for parents committed to breaking cycles and creating a legacy of healing and connection.
Key Benefits You Will Gain
By reading Beyond Healing, you will learn how to:
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Understand the different types of trauma and how they impact your nervous system, brain, and parenting patterns.
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Recognize your personal trauma responses, “mirror moments,” and triggers with greater self-awareness.
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Cultivate essential self-compassion and quiet your Inner Critic amidst the demands of parenthood.
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Build a vital support system and overcome barriers to asking for help.
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Integrate daily practices for grounding, regulation, and nervous system nourishment.
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Develop skills to build secure attachment and repair relational ruptures with your children.
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Set healthy, loving boundaries without fear or guilt.
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Navigate emotional flashbacks and intense parenting moments with a sense of presence and calm.
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Apply a trauma-informed approach to respond to meltdowns and challenging behaviors.
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Support your child in navigating school and social situations with resilience.
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Actively foster resilience, emotional literacy, and a growth mindset in your child.
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Understand the biological promise of healing, including the basics of epigenetics.
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Celebrate small wins and acknowledge progress in your healing journey and your child’s growth.
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Create a shared family vision and build a brighter future together.
Table of Contents
Part 1: Understanding Trauma in Families Chapter 1: More Than What Happened Chapter 2: Parenting With an Unseen Backpack (How Trauma Affects Parents) Chapter 3: Recognizing Trauma in Children
Part 2: The Journey of Healing for Parents Chapter 4: Your Brain’s Blueprint for Hope – The Science of Healing (Neuroplasticity & Recovery) Chapter 5: Embracing Self-Awareness and Self-Compassion Chapter 6: Building a Support System for Yourself Chapter 7: Daily Practices for Grounding and Healing
Part 3: Creating a Trauma-Informed Home Chapter 8: Rebuilding Trust and Secure Attachment Chapter 9: Boundaries Without Fear Chapter 10: Managing Emotional Flashbacks as a Parent Chapter 11: Emotion Coaching for Parents and Children
Part 4: Navigating Everyday Challenges with Resilience Chapter 12: Responding to Meltdowns and Challenging Behaviours, When Emotions Spill Over Chapter 13: Supporting Your Child in School and Social Situations: Advocating for Your Child Chapter 14: Fostering Resilience in Your Child
Part 5: Healing, Growing, and Looking Forward Chapter 15: Healing in Our Cells – The Promise of Epigenetics Chapter 16: Stories of Hope and Healing Chapter 17: Celebrating Small Wins: Gratitude Practices for Parents and Children to Acknowledge Progress and Strengths Chapter 18: Looking Forward – Building a Brighter Future
Bonus Chapter: Unconventional Paths to Healing – Exploring Alternative Approaches to Trauma
Final Reflection: A Letter for the Road Resources for Your Healing Journey Appendix A: Your Healing Toolkit Appendix B: Role Play Scenarios for Social Skills Appendix C: Activities for Learning About Emotions Appendix D: Teaching Coping Skills by Age Appendix E: Scripts for Common Situations Appendix F: Exploring Your Attachment Patterns in Parenting (Self-Assessment) Appendix G: Sample Personal Tracker
A Message from the Author
Dear Reader,
I wrote this book because I know—deep in my bones—what it means to carry the invisible weight of the past into the sacred, everyday chaos of parenting.
To love your child fiercely, but still feel hijacked by shame.
To promise yourself you’d parent differently, then find old patterns rising like ghosts in your throat.
To be doing everything you can… and still feel like you’re falling short.
Beyond Healing was born from a raw place.
A place where I sat on my kitchen floor, tears in my eyes, whispering, “I want to be better, but I don’t know how.”
This book is my offering to every parent who’s ever felt that way.
It’s not a manual. It’s a mirror. A companion. A quiet reminder that you are not broken—you’re becoming.
My hope is that these pages will hold you gently. That you’ll see your story reflected without shame. That you’ll find space to breathe, to soften, and to remember: You are not parenting alone.
The journey of writing this book cracked me open. I revisited old wounds, rewrote the stories I had inherited, and found power in choosing a new path. It wasn’t linear. It wasn’t easy. But it was sacred.
And now, I pass it to you.
May it meet you exactly where you are.
May it help you unpack what’s heavy and hold what matters.
And may it remind you—especially on the hard days—that healing is not a destination, but a daily act of courage and love.
With all my heart,
Meg Sajnaga
Author of Beyond Healing