While Genoa City continues to reel from corporate betrayals and family secrets, one of the most emotionally devastating storylines on The Young and the Restless is unfolding far from the boardroom. This time, the battle isn’t about power or legacy — it’s about a child.

On Monday’s episode, concern over Dominic’s worsening condition takes center stage, forcing Abby Newman-Abbott-Chancellor and Devon Winters to confront a heartbreaking reality: their son is not recovering from recent trauma — he’s reliving it.

And the source of that trauma may be someone they once trusted as family.

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A Mother’s Fear No Longer Denied

For weeks, Abby tried to reassure herself that Dominic would bounce back. Children are resilient, she told herself. Time heals. Stability restores.

But Dominic hasn’t forgotten.

He startles at sudden noises.
He clings to Abby with a desperation that feels primal.
His breathing shifts when certain names are spoken.

These aren’t fleeting childhood fears. They are physical manifestations of trauma — carried in muscle memory, in shallow breaths, in the way his small hands grip fabric as though the world might vanish if he lets go.

Abby finally reaches the point every parent dreads: she admits she cannot fix this alone.

Together, she and Devon make the difficult decision to seek professional help. Taking Dominic to a child psychologist feels like surrender — not of hope, but of control.

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Therapy as a Labyrinth

The therapy session unfolds with quiet intensity. The room is bright, carefully curated, clinically calm. Yet beneath that surface lies the storm Dominic carries inside him.

At first, Dominic doesn’t cry. He doesn’t scream. He simply remains silent.

And that silence terrifies Abby more than any tantrum could.

He clings to her, his body rigid, eyes scanning the room for threats invisible to adults. Devon, seated beside them, attempts to project steadiness, but his clenched jaw betrays the anxiety he’s fighting to suppress.

The psychologist doesn’t rush. Trauma, they explain, is not always verbal. Sometimes the body speaks long before the mind can process what happened.

Dominic’s shallow breathing.
His tense shoulders.
The flinch at hallway footsteps.
The avoidance of certain toys.

Each detail is documented gently, clinically — yet to Abby, it feels like reading a report about a child she doesn’t fully recognize anymore.

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A Startling Conclusion

As the session progresses, the psychologist begins to identify a pattern. Dominic’s fear does not appear generalized. It is not simply anxiety.

It is attached to a specific presence.

A specific face.

When the specialist suggests that Dominic may be reacting to unresolved trauma connected to Mariah Copeland, the air in the room changes.

Abby’s breath catches.

Mariah — once part of their inner circle. Once someone who loved Dominic fiercely. Once family.

The doctor proposes something that sounds both logical and terrifying: a controlled, carefully supervised reintroduction between Dominic and Mariah. The idea is rooted in exposure therapy — confronting fear within a safe framework to diminish its power.

In theory, it offers hope.

In practice, it feels like reopening a wound.

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The Impossible Decision

Abby’s conflict is layered and deeply human. She does not see Mariah as a monster. Genoa City rarely deals in absolutes. She understands that Mariah’s actions were tied to psychological unraveling, not calculated cruelty.

But compassion does not override instinct.

Abby is Dominic’s mother.

Her first priority is protection, not forgiveness.

Agreeing to a therapeutic confrontation feels like voluntarily placing her son near the source of his fear. It feels like gambling with his emotional safety in pursuit of healing.

Devon struggles in his own way. He recognizes that avoidance may allow Dominic’s fear to solidify into something permanent. If Mariah becomes a forbidden subject, a shadow no one dares mention, Dominic’s anxiety could deepen rather than fade.

Yet confronting trauma prematurely carries risks too.

The balance is razor-thin.

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The Controlled Confrontation

Ultimately, Abby and Devon agree — cautiously — to the specialist’s plan.

The guidelines are strict.
The meeting will be brief.
Dominic can leave at any moment.
Abby and Devon will remain present as emotional anchors.

Mariah is informed.

For her, the request is devastating and humbling. She understands what it implies — that Dominic associates her with fear. The weight of that realization is crushing.

Still, she agrees to participate, hoping that facing him might offer some form of atonement.

When the day arrives, tension hums beneath every movement.

Mariah enters the therapy room slowly, carefully, her demeanor subdued. She avoids sudden gestures. She softens her voice.

For a split second, it seems manageable.

Then Dominic sees her.

His reaction is immediate and visceral.

He gasps for breath.
His body trembles.
He throws a nearby object in panic.

The fear is deeper — more instinctual — than Abby or Devon anticipated.

Abby rushes to him, heart shattering as she realizes that this confrontation, however clinically justified, may have reopened something raw.

The session ends quickly.

Dominic is removed from the room.

Mariah stands frozen, absorbing the devastating truth: she is not a distant memory to him. She is a trigger.

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The Emotional Aftermath

The fallout is quiet but seismic.

Abby feels both validated and tormented. She was right to be cautious. Yet she also consented to this attempt at healing, and now she must live with the image of her son’s panic.

Devon wrestles with frustration. He knows healing is rarely linear, but witnessing Dominic’s distress tests his composure.

And Mariah?

She carries a new layer of guilt. Whatever her intentions were in the past, the consequence is undeniable. Dominic’s fear is real.

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A Storyline Rooted in Reality

What makes this arc particularly powerful is its authenticity. The Young and the Restless steps away from corporate warfare and dives into something painfully grounded: childhood trauma and parental helplessness.

There is no clear villain here.

Only consequences.

Abby’s protectiveness is justified.
Devon’s hope for healing is justified.
Mariah’s remorse is justified.

Yet Dominic remains the one most affected.

As Genoa City watches this family navigate uncharted emotional territory, the question lingers:

Can trauma be gently unraveled, or are some scars destined to reshape relationships permanently?

For now, Abby and Devon are left standing at a crossroads — torn between shielding their son from further pain and guiding him through it.

And in that uncertainty, the drama feels less like spectacle and more like a mirror — reflecting the fragile line between love and loss.