Navigating the Core Wound of Injustice

Recently, I was writing the final module of the Relationship Compass, focusing on the core wound of injustice. This wound touches on some of the deepest emotions we face: feelings of unfairness, discrimination, and the painful cry for balance and justice.

It’s not an easy subject to explore. Diving into this emotion was eye-opening for me—not just as a writer or teacher, but as a human being. The weight of injustice in our collective consciousness is staggering. It’s as though our very essence cries out for fairness, for accountability, for balance in a world that so often feels anything but just.

A Cry for Justice

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."

I deeply believe that to be true. In my lifetime, I’ve seen justice catch up with those who seemed to get away with terrible wrongdoing for far too long—people like Bernie Madoff, Harvey Weinstein, and others who caused harm on a massive scale.

But writing about injustice isn’t just an intellectual exercise; it’s emotional work. When I opened myself up to this emotion, preparing to write tapping protocols to help others process it, I underestimated how much it would stir within me. The flood of pain, grief, and frustration hit me harder than I expected, leaving me physically and emotionally drained.

A close friend asked me if it was possible to write this module without fully diving into the emotion of injustice. Honestly, I’m not sure it is. Processing injustice—the personal kind and the collective kind—is intense. It’s raw. It’s layered. And yet, it’s vital work.

The Seduction of the Karpman Drama Triangle

When faced with injustice, we naturally want to channel the pain somewhere. We want to do something with it. And so, we often fall into the trap of assigning roles to people around us:

• Someone becomes the villain—the one to blame for our pain.

• We cast ourselves (or others) as the victim—powerless and wronged.

• And then we search for a hero to save the day, to fix the injustice for us.

This pattern, known as the Karpman Drama Triangle, can feel comforting at first. It gives us a way to make sense of the chaos. But it’s also a sneaky form of self-sabotage.

Here’s why:

1. It keeps us stuck. Instead of focusing on solutions, we’re caught in the cycle of blaming, rescuing, or feeling helpless.

2. It creates learned helplessness. By assigning others the power to fix or perpetuate injustice, we lose sight of our own ability to make meaningful change.

3. It distracts from problem-solving. Energy that could go toward resolution or healing gets consumed by assigning roles and replaying the story.

The truth is that life is often far more nuanced than a simple triangle of villains, victims, and heroes. Take the California wildfires, for example. Watching some homes burn while others are spared feels profoundly unfair. But who’s to blame? Is it climate change? Poor land management? Fate? The situation is layered, and trying to force it into the drama triangle doesn’t make it less painful—it just keeps us spinning.

How Do We Break Free?

Breaking out of the drama triangle requires releasing the need to assign roles and shifting our focus toward healing and forward movement. Below are a few practical tapping points you can use to help process the core wound of injustice.

Tap-Out Points for Releasing the Pain of Injustice

1. Eyebrow:
   "Even though I feel the weight of injustice and unfairness, I love and accept myself. I release the need to assign blame and allow myself to process this pain with compassion."

2. Under Eye:
   "Even though I sometimes want to find a villain to make sense of my pain, I choose to let go of blame and trust in my ability to heal and move forward."

Tap-In Points for Promoting Peace and Balance

1. Collarbone:
   "I trust in my ability to create fairness, kindness, and inclusion. One step at a time, I promote peace and balance in my life and in the lives of others."

2. Top of Head:
   "I align with love, courage, and compassion. I focus on what I can do to stand for what is right while honoring the balance between helping others and caring for myself."

Moving Forward

The wound of injustice is real. It’s painful. But the solution isn’t to stay stuck in blame or helplessness. Instead, we can release the need to control how or when justice unfolds, trusting that it will in its own perfect way and time.

We can focus on what we can do: promoting fairness, standing up for what’s right, and creating inclusion in our own circles. And, most importantly, we can find the balance between helping others and taking care of ourselves—because healing and strength begin with us.