Not long ago a brother of mine researched the entire genealogy of both our mother's side of the family as well as our father's side of the family. It was discovered that back five generations poverty, unemployment, homelessness, lack of education as well as disease was the lived experience in both sides of our family. Since neither side could read or write the only records that were kept were through the "poor houses" which were part of the social service provision. The records also included birth and death notices as well as marriage licenses. All of these documents signed with an "X" became part of our family narrative of sickness and death. My grandmother was one of 10 children, 8 of those children died of childhood diseases from a fever caused by "teething" and scarlet fever. As well an industrial accident on the shipyards where her eldest brother of 15 got killed. My female relatives could never have faced those trials with a full complement of emotions in their life. The grief was immense and especially since the men in their lives were drinking alcohol to excess. The struggles were so intense survival and forgetting became a way of life.

"While they share some common characteristics, women who have substance use problems are a very diverse group, with different needs. Addiction is always part of a larger portrait that includes women's history and the social, cultural and economic factors that create the context of her life". (Harrison, S. & Carver, V.p. 253.2004)

    This forgetting and survival is the backdrop for many women as an inheritance commencing with their mothers. If we add to that emotional landscape the pedagogy of authoritarian parenting we have a system in place that suppresses not only the true emotions of our counterparts but also suppresses the awareness and creativity that goes along with it. Struggling with poverty, sick children and dilapidated housing feeds the depressed state. A tired and hungry child with no place or toys to play with adds to that. Childhood trauma can be a deep and awful experience for children Alice Miller (1984) poisonous pedagogy has stolen children's freedom  to grow, develop, live and to articulate their needs and feelings for their self protection.

"(t) Hat when people whose integrity has not been damaged in childhood, who were protected and respected, and treated with honesty by their parents, will be both in their youth and in adulthood- intelligent, responsive, empathic and highly sensitive people. They will take pleasure in life and will not feel any need to kill or hurt themselves or others" Miller (1984)