I am *all* for compassion. I just feel it should be the compassion of one flawed adult to another, with the attendent expectations that things can and should improve. I'm sure the "damaged child" viewpoint is not *intended* to "get a one up position, to gain some level of control or to disrespect her". It's the unintended consequences of this paradigm that concern me. Maybe it's just semantics. I can see taking into consideration the traumas of "the child she was" .... but that seems different from interacting with her from the position of "poor dear, she's just a scared little girl who needs love". That still seems unavoidably demeaning.
"Show me a completely smooth operation and I'll show you someone who's covering mistakes. Real boats rock." -- Frank Herbert
