Molly K Stremba LCSW in NY, NJ, MA, and FL

12/29/2025

Some moments don’t come with confidence.
They come with doubt. Hesitation. A knot in your chest that says I don’t know if I can do this.

And still you show up.
Not loudly. Not perfectly.
Just enough to take the next step.

Confidence isn’t always believing everything will work out.

Sometimes it’s choosing to move forward even while your hands are shaking.

Even while you’re unsure.
Even while the hard feelings are right there beside you.
If today feels heavy, let it count anyway.

Trying counts. Pausing counts. Continuing gently counts.
You don’t need to feel ready to keep going.

You just need to keep going in a way that feels honest to you. 🤍

The Path to Healing Within
internalcompassmks.com

12/19/2025

💛If you learned to quiet your needs, soften your personality, or make yourself smaller just to feel accepted—know this: that wasn’t weakness. That was survival. You were trying to find safety in spaces that couldn’t meet you where you were.

💛Making yourself smaller wasn’t the problem it was survival in environments that couldn’t meet you where you stood.

💛Quieting your needs and softening who you were wasn’t a flaw. It was your nervous system trying to stay safe in places that didn’t have the capacity to hold you.

💛If you learned to minimize your needs or soften your personality to feel accepted, that was an adaptive response not a character flaw. You were seeking safety in environments that couldn’t offer it.

💛Contact us today to learn more or get started on your journey. 💛

The Path to Healing Within
internalcompassmks.com

12/17/2025

How Therapy Helps Your Reactions Make Even More Sense
Therapy creates the space to slow down your reactions and understand the root beneath them.
Through trauma therapy, EMDR, and parts work, you can:
1. Trace the reaction back to the original wound
Where did your nervous system first learn this response?
2. Reprocess old memories so they no longer feel “current”
EMDR helps your brain file these experiences away properly.
3. Strengthen your “adult self”
So you can soothe younger parts instead of being taken over by them.
4. Build healthier, more regulated responses
You learn grounding skills, emotional regulation, and how to stay present.
5. Rewrite the beliefs that drive the reaction
“I’m unsafe,” “I’m too much,” “I’ll be abandoned,” or “I have to be perfect” can shift into something more grounded and true.
With support, your reactions become less about survival and more about choice.
You’re Not Overreacting. You’re Overprotecting.

Contact us today so we can support you on your journey to healing today.

The Path to Healing Within
internalcompassmks.com

12/15/2025

How to Practice Vulnerability in Relationships
1. Name your feelings instead of reacting from them
Try:
“I felt hurt when that happened.”
Instead of:
“You never think about me.”
2. Share your needs directly
Try:
“I need reassurance when plans change suddenly.”
Instead of expecting the other person to read your mind.
3. Let your partner in when you’re struggling
You don’t have to solve it alone first. Sometimes vulnerability is simply saying:
“I’m overwhelmed right now and I could really use some support.”
4. Pause before defensiveness
Defensiveness protects you, but it also blocks intimacy. Try shifting to:
“Here’s what I’m feeling underneath this.”
5. Practice small risks regularly
Small moments of truth create emotional muscle memory. Over time, vulnerability becomes less threatening and more natural.

Contact us today to learn more or get started on your journey.

The Path to Healing Within
internalcompassmks.com

12/07/2025

How Therapy Helps Your Reactions Make Even More Sense
Therapy creates the space to slow down your reactions and understand the root beneath them.
Through trauma therapy, EMDR, and parts work, you can:
1. Trace the reaction back to the original wound
Where did your nervous system first learn this response?
2. Reprocess old memories so they no longer feel “current”
EMDR helps your brain file these experiences away properly.
3. Strengthen your “adult self”
So you can soothe younger parts instead of being taken over by them.
4. Build healthier, more regulated responses
You learn grounding skills, emotional regulation, and how to stay present.
5. Rewrite the beliefs that drive the reaction
“I’m unsafe,” “I’m too much,” “I’ll be abandoned,” or “I have to be perfect” can shift into something more grounded and true.
With support, your reactions become less about survival and more about choice. Contact us today to get started.


The Path to Healing Within
internalcompassmks.com

12/05/2025

💛 How Therapy Supports Inner Child Healing

In therapy, you can:
1. Identify the original wounds
Understand where the fear, shame, or protection started and why.
2. Learn to regulate your nervous system
So you can stay grounded when younger parts get activated.
3. Reprocess painful memories (especially with EMDR)
EMDR helps the brain move stuck experiences into long-term memory, reducing triggers and emotional intensity.
4. Build a secure internal “adult self”
A steady, compassionate internal voice that younger parts can trust.
5. Rewrite old beliefs
Shift from “I’m too much,” “I have to earn love,” or “my needs don’t matter” to healthier, grounded beliefs that support your adult life.
6. Practice new ways of responding. So your present-day self, not your past pain, gets to lead
your relationships, decisions, and reactions.
7. Build safety in the present.
Your nervous system learns the difference between then and now.
8. Strengthen the adult self. You develop tools for grounding, boundaries, emotional regulation, and self-compassion.


The Path to Healing Within
internalcompassmks.com

12/03/2025

Healing means learning how to recognize when a younger part shows up and helping it trust that you, the adult, are in charge now.
In therapy, especially approaches like EMDR and parts work, you can:
1. Identify the original wound
You learn where the reaction was created, what your younger self needed, and what went unmet.
2. Process the stuck memories
EMDR helps the brain reprocess those experiences so they no longer trigger current reactions.
3. Build safety in the present
Your nervous system learns the difference between then and now.
4. Strengthen the adult self
You develop tools for grounding, boundaries, emotional regulation, and self-compassion.
Over time, those younger parts don’t have to step in as often because they trust that you can handle what they couldn’t back then.

If this resonates and you’re ready to explore how therapy or EMDR can help you heal these younger wounds, I’d be honored to support you.
Reach out today to schedule a consultation.
You deserve to feel rooted, safe, and fully present in your life.

The Path to Healing Within
internalcompassmks.com

12/01/2025

Discomfort is not the same as danger.
Below are the most common reasons you may feel uncomfortable none of which mean you’re wrong.
1. You’re Doing Something New
Your brain doesn’t judge new things as “good” or “bad”it simply doesn’t recognize them. And the unfamiliar almost always creates discomfort.

2. You’re Breaking Old Patterns That Once Kept You Safe
When you break patterns, your system often sounds an alarm.

3. You’re Expanding Your Capacity. Growth edges rarely feel soothing. It doesn’t mean you’re hurting yourself it means you’re building capacity.

4. You’re Being Honest (Maybe for the First Time)
Honesty especially when you’re used to accommodating others can feel like a threat.

5. You’re Setting Boundaries
Boundaries often feel uncomfortable because:
You weren’t taught how to set them. You were trained to prioritize everyone else’s comfort over your own

6. You’re Choosing Yourself After Years of Choosing Others
Choosing yourself may trigger:
Guilt. Fear of being “selfish”
Worry about losing relationships.

7. Someone Else Is Uncomfortable With Your Growth

8. You’re Feeling Instead of Numbing
Feeling your emotions especially ones you’ve avoided can feel overwhelming.

9. Your System Is Learning a New Normal
Every time you practice a new behavior assertiveness, boundaries, rest, truth-telling your nervous system is updating.

Discomfort is a signal of change, not a verdict of wrongdoing.

The Path to Healing Within
internalcompassmks.com

11/18/2025

10/01/2025

Emotional safety is just as important as physical safety🌱

It’s the foundation that allows us to grow, trust, and connect first in childhood and later in our adult relationships.

When we feel emotionally safe, we can be vulnerable, navigate conflict, and show up authentically.

Without it, we may silence our needs, struggle with trust, or fear rejection.

The good news? Emotional safety can be built. 💛 Through validation, consistency, healthy boundaries, and repair when mistakes happen, we create spaces where we and others can feel truly seen and supported.

✨ Emotional safety isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity for growth and connection.

➡️ Save this post as a reminder and share it with someone who makes you feel safe.

The Path to Healing Within
internalcompassmks.com

09/22/2025

✨ Old wounds can become our reasons to live ✨
🤍When you start reparenting yourself, the pain from your past isn’t proof that you’re “too damaged” it’s evidence of what you’ve carried without the tools you needed back then.

🤍As you learn to give yourself the warmth, steadiness, and protection you once missed, those old wounds can become a guide. They point to what matters most: safety, belonging, tenderness, boundaries, love.

🤍Every time you show up for your inner child, you’re rewriting the story. You’re proving that healing is possible and that the parts of you that once hurt the most can now lead you toward a life rooted in care and purpose.

🤍What’s one way you’re showing up for the younger you today?

The Path to Healing Within
internalcompassmks.com