The totalitarian system in Romania survived for 45 years through generalized and repeated cycles of physical and mental abuse directed toward the population as a whole. Today's parents show all the signs of abuse, from denial, minimizing, rationalizing, and selective memory to anger, fear, and shame. They are also experiencing the after-effects of abuse, such as suspicion, resentment, hopelessness, low self-esteem, and the tendency to continue the abusive cycle. The parents and educators, who represent the essential part of a child's small universe and who should be able to shelter them from the effects of economic depression and lack of certitude and security that characterize the transition period, have all been victims of abuse. The abusive cycle is difficult to break, because one of the ways of survival and self-protection during the past communist regime was acceptance, compliance, and lack of change. This article presents some of the positive steps that could break the abusive cycle, such as confession, physical and mental separation from the past, designating the guilty, and a positive attitude towards oneself and toward society. These steps could help the adult to handle more easily the realities of the transition period and to reduce the impact of its unhealthy climate on children. 13 references