“Teenage Elise Hijacked the Bus.”

That’s the greatest therapeutic line my therapist has come up with to date. What does it mean? To answer that question, you first need to understand teenage Elise. For those that went to high school with me, you are familiar with teenage Elise. She is not nice, actually, she’s downright mean. She takes absolutely no shit. As my therapist says, “you don’t want to meet her in a dark alley.” Teenage Elise did mean things to people she cared for deeply. She made a lot of mistakes and hurt a lot of people. Teenage Elise is the oldest in the 3 part inner child cycle. She is tired of placating and pleasing. She is now rebelling. I’ve learned this is normal. We all have a teenager inside of us and we all need to heal that teenager. For 49 years, I carried around so much shame surrounding the things this part of me did to people I loved. I certainly can’t change it (I wish I could) so now I must understand her. She comes out when she feels scared. My inner child has been through quite a bit (maybe one day I will post my full story) and while little Elise is adorable and easy to love, teenage Elise is the antithesis of my younger self. She’s not so easy to love. She’s the mama bear of my inner child. She goes into protector mode. She will not let anyone or anything hurt me.

Well... she hijacked the bus yesterday. I was feeling scared and hurt (rightfully so), so I lost the ability to hear and see truths in front of me. No one person is without faults. We all make mistakes, I know this better than anyone. But yesterday teenage Elise threw adult Elise right off the bus and took over. She was driving and driving (this sounds like screaming and a scowl on her face) for hours until I finally thanked her. Once I acknowledged her, my adult self was able to get back to driving the bus. I was able to listen to logic and find forgiveness and love. I can’t be mad at her for hijacking the bus. She comes out when she feels threatened. I used to be so embarrassed when she would hijack the bus for all those years, those were the things I did that led me to feeling shame. Now, I not only accept her, but I also embrace her. I appreciate her and love her. Something she never had in the past. If you can love and accept the worst parts of yourself, understand they were born out of necessity, not because you were bad, then you have the key to self-love.

To all my high school friends, thank you for looking past teenage Elise and seeing adult Elise.

PS don’t judge the rooster hair, horrible eyebrows, and makeup, haha.

Hi! I’m Elise Montgomerie, and I’m here to help you cut through the bulls**t so you can heal your relationships, career, and life.

My work is deep — like healing your inner child, tackling your demons, getting brutally honest with yourself — deep.

With grace and patience (mixed with a hint of tough love), I help my clients plow through blockages and finally live the lives they’re meant to live.