They Picked on Me

Listen, Then Practice

With Rick Wilkes and Cathy Vartuli

When Being Picked On Becomes a Verdict About You

Being criticized, bullied, teased, or humiliated while vulnerable can leave painful conclusions behind:

• There must be something wrong with me.
• I am not good enough or likable.
• I do not fit in.
• It is my fault.
• I am not safe.

The pain can become so familiar that it feels like identity rather than an old injury. Ask where you still limit yourself because someone picked on you about your body, clothes, intelligence, sensitivity, interests, or way of being.

Take Back the Right to Define Yourself

People may tease to establish status, enforce group rules, cover insecurity, attract laughter, or repeat a pattern they learned. Understanding their behavior does not make the harm acceptable. It helps return their judgment to its proper owner.

Tap with the isolation, shame, sadness, anger, embarrassment, or fear of exclusion that remains. You can also meet regret if you once picked on someone else. The direction is not a perfect self-image; it is more freedom to decide what is right for you now.