Key points about boundaries and enmeshed relationships: What is an enmeshed relationship? An enmeshed relationship lacks boundaries. People in enmeshed relationships are so close that they lose their individual identities. Enmeshed relationships can be between parents and children, siblings, romantic partners, or friends. If you’re in an enmeshed relationship, you may: People in enmeshed relationships …
Feeling out of control is scary for most people, but even more so for adult children. The term adult children (or adult child) refers to individuals that grew up in dysfunctional families. This includes having parents, caregivers, or close family members who struggled with substance use, mental health issues, rage, narcissistic behaviors, or were abusive. …
Unspoken Family Rules: Don’t Talk, Don’t Trust, Don’t Feel Rigid family rules and roles develop in dysfunctional families that help maintain the dysfunctional family system and allow family members to continue mistreating each other. Understanding some of the characteristics of dysfunctional families can help us break free of these patterns and rebuild our self-esteem and …
Do you seem to repeat the same dysfunctional relationship patterns – even though they leave you frustrated and hurt? Why do some people end up in one codependent relationship after another? Why does a woman with an emotionally distant mother repeat the same pattern with her own children? Why do so many adult children of …
Addiction can have devastating effects on families. As a way of coping, family members commonly take on 6 roles in addicted families. In this article, you’ll learn about these six roles and how addiction affects the entire family. Alcoholism and addiction affect the entire family, not just the addict. The effects are especially profound if …
Growing up in an alcoholic family can be lonely, scary, and confusing. Children in alcoholic or dysfunctional families don’t get a childhood. You Don’t Get a Childhood When You Grow Up in an Alcoholic Family Growing up in an alcoholic family has a different effect on different kids. Factor such as personality, internal and external …
Some children don’t get much of a childhood. When children have to act like adults – taking responsibility for their siblings, parents, and running a household– there are lasting effects. What is a parentified child? A parentified child is one that has taken on some or all of their parent’s responsibilities. Out of necessity, the …
Parentified Child: When a Child has to Act Like an Adult Read More »
Why is it so hard to end codependent relationships? In this article, we’ll explore why it’s so difficult to leave a codependent relationship (even when you know it’s in your own best interest) and you can start to change codependent patterns and create healthier relationships. Codependency is a hard pattern to break. Even when you’re …
7 Reasons It’s Hard to End Codependent Relationships Read More »
Growing up in an emotionally neglectful or dysfunctional family usually leaves social-emotional deficits that follow us into adulthood. Learning to reparent yourself can help you heal and become the emotionally healthy adult you hope to be. Are you self-critical and overly harsh with yourself? Or are you too permissive with yourself – not setting limits …
Everyone needs validation—to feel accepted and understood. However, we can’t always get validation for others. Therefore, it’s important to know how to validate ourselves. It feels good to be praised, to have your feelings affirmed, to be told you did a good job, and to be appreciated. It’s normal to want validation from others—your parents, …
