Most people want to have close family relationships, if possible. However, family bonds can become too close, lacking boundaries and inhibiting individual identity development. This is a phenomenon known as family enmeshment—a dysfunctional dynamic that occurs when there is there isn’t enough emotional separation among family members. In this article, we’ll discuss: Definition of Enmeshment Enmeshment …
Family Enmeshment: What It Is and How to Overcome It Read More »
In this article, you’ll learn about: This article is for parents of teens and young adult children. Some of it may apply to parenting younger children. Additional information about how parents can break the codependent cycle with their children can be found in this article: Parenting When You’re Codependent: How to Break the Cycle. What …
Ending Generational Codependency: Parenting Young Adults Read More »
Do you find it difficult to feel good about yourself? Do you compare yourself to others and feel defective, inferior, or inadequate? When you don’t have a strong sense of self-worth, it can be hard to set boundaries, prioritize self-care, ask for a raise, or have healthy, satisfying relationships with others. In this article, you’ll …
Some boundaries should never be crossed. Learn when to compromise—and when to hold firm with your boundaries. Not all behaviors should be tolerated in your relationships. We set boundaries to let others know what we expect and how we want to be treated. But what happens when an important boundary is crossed? We need to …
Many families experience estrangement. Sometimes an estrangement lasts a lifetime and other times family members reconcile and either put aside their differences or forge a stronger relationship. An estrangement can be a complete cutoff of all communication (no contact) or a partial cutoff where one person makes a consistent effort to limit contact or emotional …
It can be hard to understand why adult children cut ties with a parent. This is usually because we assume that parent-child relationships are not only important but functional. Family is forever. Blood is thicker than water. These sayings reflect our assumptions that family relationships are close and long-lasting. Parent-child relationships, in particular, are expected …
Self-care is the act of doing something that increases your health and wellbeing. Self-care restores your energy and “fills you up” emotionally, physically, and spiritually. It’s treating yourself with love and compassion. Self-care helps prevent burnout and is an essential part of living a healthy, happy life. But some people have a hard time doing …
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 …
“Why is my childhood still affecting me? Shouldn’t I be over it by now?” Amy, aged 37, asked me at her first therapy session. “I feel like I’m complaining,” she said ashamedly. “I’m sure other people have bigger problems — real problems. I feel silly coming to therapy to talk about getting over painful childhood …
Shouldn’t I Be Over My Painful Childhood by Now? Read More »
Codependents are often caretakers, which is a great quality—except we tend to do it at our own expense, and often when help isn’t wanted or needed. The result is a codependent pattern of rescuing, resenting, and regretting. Learn to break this pattern and stop rescuing and enabling. Codependent rescuing Rescuing is an unhealthy version of …
